


The Mystique Dossier

by LuigiEsguerra



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Comic), Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2020-04-08 06:59:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19102054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuigiEsguerra/pseuds/LuigiEsguerra
Summary: The year is 1966, dead set in the middle of the Cold War, the herald of Satan is about to be baptized in Greendale, a zombie problem is starting in Riverdale, the Vietnam War is going terrible for the United States, the Soviets have shown the might of their submarine fleet. The apocalypse is near.





	1. Prologue - The Men of the Kremlin

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfiction is based on the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comic, while possibly using Afterlife with Archie and other Archie Horror comics along the way, although I would be mixing some aspects from the CAOS 2018 tv adaptation mainly because the CAOS comic is stuck in limbo without any new issue in sight to forward the story. The source material for the tv adaptation was set in 1966, when the Cold War was in high gear, and so the setting is much more in line with the theme of occult and espionage compared to my other CAOS fanfic that used the tv series (the modern but with a retro feel setting) as its setting. And also since there is no tags meant for the CAOS comic, I had to tag the CAOS tv adaptation as well.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Kremlin receives an urgent call for help from an agent facing a unusual and supernatural foe behind enemy lines.

Encrypted telegram to Moscow:

**URGENT**

_Alarming prophecy, devilish and occultish magic real._

_Zombies are infesting a nearby town called Riverdale_

_I am being hunted by witches._

_I am in Greendale, East Coast of the United States._

_Send help._

***

The year is 1966, the two superpowers of the time; the United States and its allies, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and its allies, the Eastern Bloc, are locked head-to-head in a battle for strategic dominance.

Do you remember the moment when the world was standing on the edge of a perilous apocalypse over some island in the Caribbean? Well, admittedly, despite of whatever you’ve heard in the history books, the real cause is not what the world knew of it to be, rather it was the fault of our group.

Who are we, and most importantly, who am I? Well this is the reason for the publication of this account by someone who was stuck deep in the middle of this farce, and also as the only living remnant of the Mystique group, it is my duty to remind the world of the men and women who put their lives on the line to keep the world safe, be it if they were agents from the CIA or the KGB.

Everything began in Moscow, as it always did for anyone working for the KGB, I was once a soldier for the Red Army before being recruited into the KGB to do the dirty work of the country, and I was summoned to the Kremlin on the 1st October of 1966, or at least that is the date they wanted to see my ass there.

I was there in the Kremlin, particularly in the building where somehow there is a meeting that had the Chairman of the KGB in it as well as maybe a bunch of other high ranking party officials, and I was supposed to be there!

I was told to report to this meeting room which apparently had a long table that was filled with faces, some of which I could recognize because they’re the faces of the hands of the government and the party.

“Take a seat, Mister Kukov.” said the Chairman of the Communist Party, Brezhnev.

I sat down beside the Director of the KGB, that was the only vacant seat available, I guess no one would want to sit beside the guy that could arrest you if you piss him off.

“Gentlemen, we are summoned here today by the Chairman of the KGB.” announced the Party Chairman.

I looked around and as far as I could tell, the Red Army, the Air Force, the Navy, and other bureaucracies of the country, were represented at the table. The Chairman of the KGB spoke, “Gentlemen, as you may have read in your papers, and as confirmed by the reports of the Red Army, that there is a possibility that magic exists.”

No one laughed, it’s not because we Russians are humorless, but no one laughs at the head of the KGB and lives. “The Red Army has arrested ten women and two men across the Soviet Union for practicing occult-like activities, and under interrogation and experimentation by the Mystique group, we have concluded that these bunch are capable of conducting some form of magic which could be considered as satanic.”

 

Only the head of the KGB can get away with referencing religion in front of Party Officials, that I can tell. “We have proof of their magic?” asked the Chairman of the Party.

“Yes, Mister Chairman, they were observed in being able to cast spells that can kill a human being, and also one of them was a young woman who had little control of her powers and she ended up destroying the room with telekinesis, it took a squad of ten Red Army soldiers to kill her.”

“How many were killed?” asked the Chairman.

“Six soldiers,sir.” said the Marshal of the Red Army.

“What else is there?” prompted the Chairman.

“We have intelligence that the Americans have begun their research into the occult, for your information, the KGB formed Mystique ever since we captured remnants of the Ahnerbe in Berlin, it was initially a ‘Abnormal and Para-psychological warfare unit’, as we thought that Ahnerbe was mostly that, full of religious crap used in scaring the enemy, however we begun reading through the papers of Ahnerbe and we were convinced that we only need evidence to prove their claims.”

“And this attack is evidence enough that magic is real?” confirmed the Chairman.

“Yes, Mister Chairman, it is evidence, and also in the memory of those who were killed by these witches and warlocks, let their deaths not be in vain.” said the Chairman of the KGB, “As for the Americans, we plan on sending an operative to a place that their independent press, and our own informants, are saying to be the epicenter of some witch meeting, additionally we also need to rescue an informant stuck in this epicenter.”

I glanced at the face of the Chairman, he looked pissed, “Who will you be sending then?”

I felt the Director’s hand on my shoulder, “This man, right here, he has good knowledge of the Occult and of the United States.”

I am not going to lie, I was not part of the research arm of Mystique, but I did read up on everything they knew about magic so far, including the Ahnerbe papers, and also I actually studied Parapsychology and the Occult in Arkham University  before everything went dead cold with the Americans.

I stood up, “Yes sir, I do believe that the Director chose right in choosing me.”

“How are you going to get him there?” asked the Chairman.

“By a submarine, our newest and most advanced stealth submarine, the Moscow.” said the Director of the KGB, “I already spoke to the Fleet Admiral about this.”

The Chairman nodded, “Mister Lukov, I wish you good luck, I agree with this plan on the condition that you will not be caught, if you are caught…it’s better to die than to betray your motherland.”

I nodded, “Understood, Mister Chairman.”

The Chairman of the KGB continued, “The occult prisoners we caught all spoke of some coming prophecy, something like the Antichrist, at the end of this month. As such the mission of Mister Lukov is to rescue our informant and to understand what the hell is going on with this prophecy. Additionally, we are requesting if we can authorize the use of nuclear weapons if this prophecy is true.”

The Chairman of the Party glared at the man, “You want to use nuclear weapons?”

“Mister Chairman, with respects, I’ve seen the reports and heard the testimonies of those who witnessed the power of the occult prisoners, they are said to be just a bunch of small fish, now imagine the power of their prophetic figure.”

The Chairman of the Party kept his emotions behind a stoic wall, “The captain of the Moscow will wait for our authorization, understood?”

The Fleet Admiral nodded, “Yes, Comrade Chairman.”

The Chairman of the KGB turned to me and said, “Comrade Lukov, you may leave, prepare to receive instructions later during the day.” He handed me a telegram, it was from the informant in grave danger.

I did what he said and left the meeting room, admittedly I did so with my nerves shaking, the usage of nuclear weapons…I mean I understand that these weird instances of magic and the occult are minor problems, and I know nothing of the prophecy those occultists were spewing about.

If there is one weird thing that happened during the meeting, it would be the fact that Brezhnev was not plugged into a 220V wall socket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. There is this Russian joke that Brezhnev was plugged into a 220V wall socket in an allusion to the fact that he had to go through dialysis once in a while.


	2. To serve the Soviet Union

I felt the not so comfortable submarine hammock beneath me as I drifted to sleep, the rest of my day went quickly; I returned to my home at Moscow and found a dossier on my bed with orders for me to fly to Sevastapol in Ukraine via high speed jet.

By the time the moon was over the horizon, I was at the Sevastapol naval base in which I was met by the Moscow’s captain, and then as soon as they showed me the officer’s cabin, I requested if I could get some shut eye and they were obliged to do so.

Something, a faint noise the grew into something more noticeable to the ear, gently shook me from my sleep, it took my brain a while to power up however I ended up leaping from the hammock when the words ‘silent running’ was being whispered by someone in the cabin.

I opened my eyes and saw the first officer and the Captain, Marko Ivanov, seemingly discussing something, “Good to see you awake, Comrade.” said the Captain.

“What’s happening?” I asked in a whisper.

Marko pressed a finger to his lips, “Hush now, you wouldn’t want for the US Navy sonar to pick us up.”

I felt alarmed, I thought we were to sail silently out through Gibraltar and break into the Atlantic within a day or two and not be within the grasp of the US Navy this quickly.

The Captain disappeared through a passage hole, the first officer bade me to come with them. I got off my hammock and followed the Captain and first officer through the decks of the submarine.

As a nuclear submarine, one of the most advanced of its time, the Moscow was larger than the usual diesel powered submarines, and also this one was stealthier and deadlier, not to mention that this submarine, based on KGB intelligence, had an experimental design that allowed it to be faster than torpedoes, sailing at a whopping 41 knots submerged.

I found myself directly underneath the Conn tower, that being the tower of the submarine with the periscopes and all, where I heard the Captain say, “Prepare missile tube for nuclear weapon release.”

I felt the world crashing inside me, “wait, wait-” but my words fell into deaf ears, I was hushed by a sailor who was standing beside me.

The Captain, the First Officer, and the Political Officer were standing in front of a console that had three keyholes, a safe, and an Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) receiver with two lights; a red light and a green light, it was currently in red as it has not received any signal from any Soviet E.L.F. antenna.

The Captain unlocked the safe and pulled out a metal box, it contained encrypted codes in which the computer would compare with the codes received through the ELF, if there is a match, if the light is green, then we have been given authorization for nuclear weapons release.

The radio operator was handed the metal box and he inserted it into a slot on the ELF receiver, the light switched to green. “We have authority for nuclear weapons release.”

The Captain inserted his key into the key slot, and so did the other two, the final step before Armageddon.

I noticed the light flashing to red, we did NOT have nuclear weapons release authority after all, those damned Soviet computers! I immediately pulled out my hidden sidearm and flashed my ‘red book’, aka my KGB badge, “Enough!”

The crew within the Conn was caught by surprise, the Captain’s hand was an inch away from the button. “I am an agent of the KGB and I have the authority to arrest and execute anyone not following the orders of Moscow.”

The Captain began to laugh, I felt stupid at that moment. “Relax, Comrade, ease off the vodka, that was just a drill.”

I lowered my gun and felt relieved, “What kind of men are you training, you all treated it as if it was re-…” I then remembered the dossier left at my home, it had the information of the submarine, its crew, as well as any known intelligence on the weird and the occult.

The Captain of the Moscow, Marko Ivanov, was THE man who has written the naval tactics for the next generation of submarines, which the Moscow was spearheading, and I would guess that he knows how to run a submarine well, much more than the captain of a normal nuclear submarine.

“I thank you, Comrade Lukov, I do train my crew to be better than our adversary.” said Marko, he then approached a communication terminal and announced to the entire crew, “The drill is over, well done.”

The officers in the control room applauded and patted each other on the back, “Where are we?” I asked.

The navigator answered, “We are fifty miles away from Gibraltar.”

“We would have to remain damned silent in order to slip through the British sonar.” said Marko, “Dive to 330 meters.”

I felt the submarine tilt forward as we descended even deeper than the maximum operational depths of normal submarines. I approached the Captain once the submarine had leveled, “Captain, may I speak to you in the officers’ cabin?”

 

Marko nodded, he turned to his First officer, “You have the conn, comrade.” he said before leading me back to the officers’ cabin. He sealed the hatch and sat on a chair, “Sit down, Comrade.”

I sat down on another chair beside him, “Do you know of our mission?”

Marko nodded, “To send you to the weirdest place of the United States? Yes.”

“And you know and believe the intelligence reports?”

“You mean the zombies, dark messiah, and witches? Yes.” said Marko, “It would either make life more interesting or give the KGB the worst possible embarrassment it could ever receive.”

Magic does exist, the Mystique group within the KGB knows that, however as for the possibility that the occult could operate as widespread as the reports suggests, it would lead for anyone within the group to believe that either the American government has fallen or that the reports were being made up by a false spy-ring.

I nodded, “The KGB would never spring into action on false intelligence.”

“You better be right on that one, they ended up sending Russia’s most fastest and most advanced submarine to date for some operation that none of the crew and officers, save for the Captain, are made aware of its true nature.” said Marko, “Your organization is playing a dangerous game.”

He did not have to tell me that, one false move, one detection by a NATO sonar, is all it takes for the United States to start sending ICBMs and nuclear bombers flying towards every single major population hub of the Soviet Union.

“You do know that we’re on the risk of another Cuban Missile Crisis?” said Marko.

Little did he know that the Cuban Missile Crisis was the KGB’s first attempt at having a nuclear warhead trained within the so called ‘High-Occult zone’ of the United States, that being Greendale and Riverdale, it just so happened that Washington D.C. was in the way.

I nodded, “But it’s worth the risk.”

“At the cost of human civilization and peace?”

“Hey, if an army of cultists yelling their Dark Herald or Dark Messiah’s name would overrun the Kremlin…”

Marko waved a hand, “I see, I see.” he nodded, “Who is this Dark Herald anyway, is he the supposed Antichrist?”

“It’s supposedly a she, comrade, and we do not have much clues as to her identity, we would have to rescue our operative first, he knows everything.”

Marko did not seem to react, instead he said, “This operative of yours, who’s chasing him?”

“The witches of Greendale, or so what he’s hinted strongly in his telegram.” I said, “He is stuck in Greendale, I do believe we’re supposed to surface a mile from the coast, drop me off, and you’re supposed to dive while I am supposed to swim to the coast and find this operative of ours.”

“Don’t worry yourself with the submarine, I’ll handle her, just focus on rescuing this operative, even I would want to know the full story.” said Marko.

***

To serve the motherland, he thought with sarcasm, to bring glory for Mother Russia, he mocked in his head as he was seated in a diner, not far from what KGB intelligence has marked as being the possible Antichrist, well the information was mainly from his own spy work.

Boris Scherb, inserted into the United States by Mystique in the heat of the Cuban Missile Crisis as a ‘Diplomat’ who ‘returned to Moscow’ when the crisis was over, in truth however he remained under deep cover posing as a journalist of Greendale Gazette.

Somehow he managed to maintain the image of a journalist in his early-thirties who wears a fedora and carries a notebook around ever since the Missile Crisis was resolved, he credited it to the fact that he is doing an actual journalistic investigation of the unusual things happening in and around Greendale and Riverdale.

His watch showed that it was half past six, 13th September, Friday , and so far he has been waiting for something to happen, the intelligence handed to him by the KGB last month showed that there is some sort of coming Antichrist and she was to be baptized by the end of October

It is of little wonder as to who that may be, ‘Sabrina Spellman’ he wrote on his notebook, the mysterious girl of the town; lives in a mortuary with her two aunts, father is Edward Spellman, while her mother…well, he had another deep cover operative to go and look for her, rumor has it that she’s still alive.

It needs no mention that this Sabrina would be having her sixteenth birthday on the 31st of October, as for how he had known that…well, if you’re a KGB agent and your father is buddies with Kruzchev and Brezhnev as a powerful party official, you’ll end up finding ways to find information on someone.

He kept an eye on Sabrina and her boyfriend, Harvey, it was one of their usual Friday nights out in the diner. He also made sure that he was seated on a table not far from them, in fact he could hear the two chattering away about school and Sabrina’s upcoming birthday next month.

“Hey, ‘brina, I was thinking…if we could maybe go out on your birthday next month-”

Sabrina giggled, “Harvey, it’s still a month away!”

“I know, I know, it’s just that I just wanted to make sure that you’re available and all.” said Harvey.

This was where Boris noted Sabrina’s reaction, “Actually…” said Sabrina softly, “I cannot go out with you on my birthday itself.”

“Family celebration with your two aunts?”

“Yeah-…yeah.” said Sabrina, Boris knew that there was something more behind that ‘Yeah’.

“Can I join then?” asked Harvey.

Sabrina shook her head, “I’m sorry, Harvey, but it’s a…family thing, it’s private…you know, my sixteenth birthday and all.”

Boris was writing the conversation down on his notebook, he then felt someone standing beside his table, “Busy day, huh?”

He looked up and saw the waitress with his order of Philly cheesesteak, the tidbits of life he could not get a taste of back at home, “Yeah, busy day in keeping the papers in circulation, keeping the news fresh and breaking.” he said in an American accent.

The waitress gave him his food, chuckling while she did so, “What’s up with the disappearance of Jason though?”

Boris sighed, “Well, the police are still looking for him, I hope he’s found.”

“I sure do.” said the waitress, “Alright, enjoy your meal!”

As he was going through his meal, he saw the two stand up from their table and was heading out through the door, luckily he was in the way. “Excuse me, aren’t you Harvey Kinkle?” he asked.

Harvey was taken aback, “Uh, yeah?”

“I think you may know me, I’m Freddie Cue, Greendale Gazette, and I heard that you’re playing with the football team against Riverdale?” said Boris.

Harvey smirked, “Yes, we’re going to be playing a series of matches against them in the next few weeks.”

“Well, this is the hot topic for sports fans within Greendale, you know, pride in their town and all, and I hope I could do an interview with you? Of course when you’re available, it seems that I may be disturbing a sweet date.” he laughed.

“Not really.” said Sabrina.

“Who would she be then?” asked Boris.

“I am Sabrina Spellman.” she introduced herself.

“Wait, I remember seeing you one time I was at Baxter High, looking for a story, you’re that cheerleader with silvery hair.” said Boris, “Anyhow, it’s nice meeting you, I hope we’ll meet each other again.” he said, shaking hands with both Harvey and Sabrina.

He quickly finished his meal as the two left and managed to follow them, the two decided to walk and based on the direction they were heading, Boris would be heading straight into the foreboding and imposing forest, where people simply disappear most of the time.

He followed them into the forest, his hand ready to reach for his gun should something or someone threaten him, up until a place he recognized, the Spellman Mortuary, where Harvey kissed Sabrina goodbye and left.

He hid behind a thicket of bushes as he looked around, something is telling him that the place is simply not just a mortuary and a burial ground. He shifted his feet and felt something crunch beneath his heel, he looked and regretted doing so.

He saw a decomposing human hand half-buried in the mud, he used his pen to slide the mud away, the hand and arm was still connected to a body, he guessed where the head would be and used the heel of his foot to unearth the head.

He gasped as he recognized who the body was, the face may be decomposed with maggots in the eye sockets, but he recognized it as that of the missing boy. Boris removed more of the mud until he could get a clear view the body, and the sight horrified him; the body was cut open and was emptied of its internal organs, everything else; the hands, the digits, and such was attached and decomposing.

He stumbled backwards and felt a hand reach for him, he turned back and saw a pair of women, “What are you doing near our home?”

“Be careful.” said the other woman.

“Wait, you’re-…Hilda and Zelda Spellman?” said Boris.

“Oh, he knows,” smirked Zelda, “we also know that you are a spy, and while we do not care for what goes on with your human governments, I do care about what goes on here.”

Boris was ready to reach for his gun, “You can’t break me, you don’t know who you’re dealing with.”

“We do.” said Hilda, “I’m warning you, I think you’ve heard of the rumors at Riverdale…the disease…it’s real, it’s you who knows nothing.”

“You know you’ve been hiding something…it’s something about your mother, is it?” said Zelda.

Boris lashed out at the two, he pulled out his gun and managed to have a bullet each for the two through their heads. The two bodies fell backwards, he made a run for it. As he left the mortuary behind him, he looked back and saw the bodies stand up and he heard voices speaking to him.

“Do you really think you can kills us? Be warned, mortal, we’re coming for you.” said Zelda, or rather a voice that sounded like Zelda.

He saw what looked like wisps of smoke appearing in the distance behind him, enveloping the mortuary, and when the smoke cleared, he saw a dozen demonic hounds homing towards his direction and he heard Zelda’s voice, “Get him.”

The hounds pursued him through the forest, however when he reached the edge of the forest, nearly tired and close to fainting, the hounds retreated and ran back towards the direction of the forest.

He did not stop running until he reached his house, where he quickly jotted down a message in Russian;

URGENT

Alarming prophecy, devilish and occultish magic real.

Zombies are infesting a nearby town called Riverdale

I am being hunted by witches.

I am in Greendale, East Coast of the United States.

Send help.

He hid the note underneath a potted plant at his front porch, the agreed upon dead drop with his aide who was working in Washington D.C. as a legitimate Soviet diplomat, and he telephoned the Soviet Embassy, waited for someone to answer, held silence for ten seconds, before hanging up the phone.

That night, he prayed for the first time since the days before his mother disappeared for reasons no one knew why, his dad blamed her disappearance on Stalin’s post-war purges, but even that reasoning perplexed his dad as his mother had never been active in politics since Lenin rose to power, and if anyone would be killed at any moment by that tyrant, it would be his dad and not his mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. The fictional Moscow is based on the Alfa class submarine, a terror in its own right given its capabilities to outrun NATO torpedoes and out-dive NATO submarines and destroyers.  
> 2\. The Soviets did in fact send in KGB agents under the guise of the diplomatic circles during the Cuban Missile Crisis, mainly a man named Aleksandr Semyonovich Feklisov, the same man who received nuclear secrets from the infamous American informant Julius Rosenberg , who ended up 'suggesting' the diplomatic end of the standoff; the Soviets will remove their missiles if the United States promises not to invade the island nation and to remove U.S. missiles in Turkey.  
> 3\. Yeah...Hilda and Zelda are a whole lot more nastier to humans in the comics.


	3. The Eagle and the Bear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The United States is attending the SEATO Conference in Manila, the Moscow reaches the shorelines of the United States, and as far as anyone is concerned, the showdown between the American Eagle and the Red Bear continues and will worsen, not only that but the Chinese Dragon is close to blows with the Bear.

Adam D. Bering was seated in a room at the US Embassy overlooking the city of Manila, his hands were shaking as he read through the three page report that was sent to them from the United States in a envelope that was marked as top secret and urgent and addressed to the President of the United States and CIA staff with a high security clearance.

He was brought with the President to Manila, the Philippines, as he was the head of the special group within the CIA, it was once called MKOFTEN however they’re currently going for ‘Stargate’ after their operations had them summoned to the Senate. As far as he was concerned however, he’d rather call it the ‘Whenever Greendale and Riverdale goes crazy as usual group’

As for the paper that has been flown to them, it was satellite photos of an unknown Soviet submarine sailing in International Waters, just five hundred nautical miles away from Greenland.

The fact that had him shaking was the fact that this submarine had not been spotted before or ever since, and so far the US Navy and their fleet of submarine hunters has not reported having detected anything yet close to the US coastline.

Something however has been bothering him, if you’re in the intelligence service then you better have the brains to piece together the most distant and unusual pieces of information into actionable Intelligence, sometimes this takes the use of the gut. So far, his gut has been raising the alarm and he did not like the sound of it.

MKOFTEN was established as a response to intelligence that the Soviets had established something called Mystique, a group dedicated to researching the paranormal for strategic purposes, this includes the likes of being able to use psychics to locate top secret ICBM silos of the enemy, or to identify and locate American spies living within the Soviet Union.

So far, MKOFTEN/Stargate has been keeping a close eye on the unusual parts of the United States, the most surveyed of which would be the town of Greendale and the nearby town of Riverdale, the two places pockmarked by mysterious disappearances, supposed cult behavior, and other unusual sightings, more so than any place in the United States.

As he stared at the waters of Manila Bay, an idea kept creeping into his head, could it be that the Soviets are planning to plant an operative in Greendale and Riverdale in order to get their hands on the occult? It is of little secret to the CIA that Soviet and Chinese soldiers have been trading potshots at the border, it would only be a matter of time until someone decides to invade with the intent of destroying the other side.

Not only that but the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, a satellite state of the Soviet Union, has been struggling in keeping a proper image with its citizens up to the point that a successful overthrow of the communist government of Czechoslovakia may be possible within a year or so, something that Moscow will definitely be concerned about.

There is also the war in Vietnam, in which Adam is sure that it would be the main topic of discussion as of that moment in the Old Legislative Hall of Manila, where the leaders of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, or SEATO, are currently meeting, it was hosted by the recently elected President Marcos of the Philippines.

He took a deep breath and made a decision, he’s flying back to Washington D.C. as soon as possible and he will be going to Greendale along with several operatives to check if his hunch was right.

***

If my markings were right, today is the 30th of October 1966, and if everything goes well, then it would be the day when I would be setting foot on American soil and somehow hightailing it to Greendale alive.

The Moscow had done its job in crossing the North Atlantic undetected, in fact we’re now within American waters and so far we have not been detected, I must admit that staying in a submarine for nearly a month would drive any untrained man crazy, most especially so when the crew is singing the national anthem because it’s the anniversary of the revolution, or ‘It’s a long way to Tipperary’.

 

 

I was standing in the main control room of the submarine, waiting for the time to come until we were damned close to the coast of the United States, as how they say it, to be right beneath their noses. I walked over to the navigator’s table and glanced at a topographical map of the area I’m supposed to be landing on.

The water from the North Atlantic flows into the mouth of the river where Greendale sits and flows to Riverdale, I have discussed possible plans with the Captain as to how they can get me close enough to the coast without getting detected.

So far we could either sail the submarine straight through the river and give them a really nasty surprise, or fly the flag of the United States and disguise ourselves as an American submarine on normal patrols, or have me shot out of the torpedo tube, the last one became the most feasible apparently.

Marko, being the man who experimented with technology and tactics, devised a solution to all our problems, a submersible using the shell and motor of a torpedo but without the ballast and warhead, and as such I would be shoved inside the space where the warhead was and be given control of this mini-submersible.

It sounded ridiculous but it was the only way the Moscow could be submerged within fifteen miles of Greendale without being spotted by anybody and as such I agreed with it.

I checked my watch, it was nearly H-Hour for my landing and as per the plan outlined in the KGB mission dossier, I had to keep a ready suitcase of clothes, a cartridge or two for my pistol, a shotgun-disguised-as-a-camera (basically the KGB took the shell of a handheld camera and fitted a firing mechanism from a shotgun.), a set of false documents, a ton of cash, a bunch of papers and a pen, I went back to the officers’ cabin to get my suitcase.

Ironically I was still to be known as Valery Lukov, however I was an ‘authorized person’ as a researcher and fellow of Arkham University, which I technically am, sometimes the best disguise is the truth, or what could easily be taken as truth.

I got my suitcase and headed for the forward torpedo room, where the Captain was waiting for me, “Ah, comrade, ready to be the first man shot out of a torpedo tube?” said Marko with a wry grin.

I chuckled, “Well, I get into this torpedo, the submarine surfaces to periscope depth, I get shot out, and the rest is under my control?”

Marko nodded, “Yes, you’ll have to be careful not to accidentally detonate the self-destruct charges while you’re in the water.”

I did not know if he was joking or not, “I thought I would just push the torpedo back into the water and let it sink?”

Marko shook his head, “No, you beach that thing, get your things, set the timer and run like hell. I do believe we have deep cover operatives that could convince the authorities that it was a lost torpedo, you know, from the second world war.”

There was something wrong with that kind of cover story, “Who the hell loses a torpedo?”

Marko shrugged, “I don’t know, stolen, misplaced, our operatives will surely come up with a cover story.”

I sure hope they do, or else I’ll report them to the KGB if my cover gets blown because of their inability to come up with a way to convince the Americans.

Marko patted me on the shoulder, “Good luck, comrade, the life of another fellow comrade is depending on you getting to the shore.”

The special torpedo had two slits covered by glass at the front so that I could see where I was heading, and it had a compartment door that had a special locking mechanism so I don’t get stuck inside without any way of opening the door other than the outside. “Where did you get the parts to make these?” I asked before going in.

“I built this when we were still at port, it is a pet project of mine and I knew it would come to good use.” said Marko.

“And you’ll let me drive it and blow it up?” I said.

“Yes.” said Marko simply, “I have other better prototypes waiting in Sevastopol and Saint Petersburg.”

I was already inside the torpedo when he said that, “Wait, better!?”

“Don’t worry about that, good luck!” said Marko right before he slammed the door shut above me.

I looked out through the slits and saw the gaping maw that was the torpedo tube consuming me and the torpedo, I then heard the torpedo tube hatch being shut and locked behind me, and then I heard the torpedo tube being flooded, and then I felt the electric motor activating.

Before I knew it, I was shot out of the torpedo tube and heading towards the shore, I could only see darkness through the slits as the torpedo whizzed through the water at what I guessed was 26 knots or so.

I remembered the training Marko gave me on maneuvering this thing, I reached for the controls - a pulley system to adjust the pitch and yaw of the torpedo with my hands, and foot pedals to adjust the trim of the torpedo like an airplane - and gently pointed the torpedo upwards, just so I can get a view of the surface, though I could barely see anything as it was nighttime.

I saw that I was close to the shoreline and kept the submersible steady, making sure that I would gently collide with the sand above and not with the rocks or sea wall beneath.

I shut my eyes the moment before I made impact, I felt my head being pushed into the torpedo hull as the submersible came to a stop on the sand. I reached for the knob and twisted it, unlocking the compartment door/hatch, allowing me to have a whiff of the air.

I quickly got out of the torpedo, got my suitcase, and primed the self-destruct charges. I ran as quickly as I could from the torpedo, and when I reached a road about a mile and a half away from my landing site, there was a bright flash and a loud explosion behind me.

As if on cue, I spotted a man wearing a fedora, a long coat, a pair of black slacks, and he was leaning on the hood of his car. He approached me, I pulled my gun out from underneath my suit, “Whoa, comrade, it’s me…”

“Boris Scherb.” I recognized him, he was slightly older than me, nearly two heads taller than me, and was built like a brick wall.

“You must be…”

“Valery Lukov.” I introduced myself.

Boris nodded, “Good to see that Moscow has gotten my message, I mean they did send a reply saying ‘We’re coming’ and I received further instructions to wait for you along the shoreline, I was expecting that you’d slip in silently…and not-…” he gestured towards the rising plume of smoke.

“We had to come up with something, I was snuck in here through a submarine, as far as everyone is concerned, I never left the United States and I have been working with Arkham University.” I said.

“Well, thank God you came, and timely too.” said Boris, “Come on, we have a birthday to attend in a day.” he then checked his watch, “Correction, today, it has just struck midnight.”

“Ah, the supposed dark herald or dark messiah?” I said as I shoved my suitcase into the trunk of the car.

“Yes, her name is Sabrina Spellman, comrade.” said Boris as he got into the car.

I got into the car, admittedly it felt cozy, “What do the Americans call this?” I asked.

“It’s called a 1965 Mustang, and before you ask how I got it, let’s just say that Moscow is my tooth fairy and pays handsomely even if I have no tooth to give.” said Boris.

He begun to drive, we encountered fire trucks heading towards the opposite of the direction we were heading. “So, comrade Valery, please explain to me how…just how magic works?”

“Well, you see, the concept of magic and witchcraft are both tied closely, some sources claim that it’s the devil who gives the magic.” I explained.

“Ah, so like Faustus.”

I nodded, “Yes, trading your soul and freedom to the devil in exchange for powers.” I then decided to ask Boris, “Comrade, why were you sent here?”

“To keep an eye on the weird things in the United States, as well as their efforts to mirror Mystique.” said Boris.

“Why?” I ended up asking.

Boris raised an eyebrow, “What did they tell you before they shoved you into this mission?”

“Well, they told me that I was to rescue you and find out about this dark messiah.” I said, that’s pretty much what the dossier said about the mission, it also did mention a thing or two that the informant, Boris, may hold anti-party grudge, but as far as I am concerned, who would not hold an anti-party grudge if you’ve been left in the possible literal hell on Earth.

“They told me about some possible weird things happening in this part of the United States and they told me to be Moscow’s eyes and ears.” said Boris, “Did you know that Mystique had a hand in the Cuban Missile Crisis?”

We were told that it was an agreement between the Soviets and the Cubans that the United States did not like, at least we managed to get NATO bases off of Turkey. “How so?”

“It was the head of Mystique that pushed for the deal in order to get nukes trained on Greendale, we are already aware that this place is full of dangerous occult activities, with the missing persons and all.” explained Boris, “However when things spiraled out of control, we had to insert a KGB agent as a diplomat in Washington D.C. in order to ‘suggest’ to the Americans a diplomatic option, just so we wouldn’t be blamed for World War 3.”

“We pulled out our missiles from Cuba, didn’t we?”

“We did.” Boris nodded, “Mystique had to come up with an alternative plan, they wanted a proper eyes and ears within Greendale, you must remember that they do not have any proof of magic yet at the time and as such they were desperate for someone, anyone, to confirm the existence of nefarious magic.”

“But we did have several incidents of magic between 1963 until 1966 in the Soviet Union.” I pointed out.

“My contact at the embassy did mention that when he visited two weeks ago, he too is part of Mystique.” said Boris, “Now, I guess, Moscow is scrambling…”

I felt that he left the last word hanging, “Scrambling for?”

“Either to stop the devil, or the herald of the devil, and use it to shame the United States at the United Nations.” said Boris with a hint of disappointment, “I’ve read in the likes of the Bible and the Koran about the coming of the devil and things, I never knew that they’d never be able to foresee the monstrosity that is the Soviet Union and the United States.”

“Monstrosity?”

“Instead of standing up to the devil for the sake of defending humanity, they stand up to the devil just to get a higher moral ground in the next UN General Assembly.” Boris sighed.

“Well, I never knew that you would be a man of virtue.” I said, unlike me, Boris was built and hammered by war and hatred, he was trained into the ways of the KGB as a young man. I was merely a soldier and then a scholar who they decided to bring into the wing of Mystique for my knowledge of the occult, Boris tortured and murdered Germans who were trying to run away from justice.”

Boris nodded, “I understand, comrade, my record painted me a murderer as the Interrogator in East Germany.” he then sighed, “But you know, when the state pushes you to the brink…”

I was reaching for my red book, which is basically a KGB badge, but then he held up a hand and said, “I know ten or twenty ways to kill a man reaching for his gun by shoving him out the door…”

“No, I’m not reaching for my gun.” I held the red book and tossed it at the back of the car, he knew what it meant.

“Good, you’re a thinking man as well.” said Boris, “The son of a bitch Mystique, then it was called the Commission for Parasychological Warfare, murdered my mother…who was a practicing satanic witch, just before Stalin died.”

“How did you know she was a witch?” I asked.

“She kept me and my father alive from diseases, she kept us alive during the war, she always looked youthful, and she once summoned the devil and spoke to him.” said Boris.

“And you saw all this?”

“Yes, and I never forgave my mother ever since…until it was too late to tell her I still loved her.” said Boris, “Does it matter if she says hail satan if she cared for me? Does it change if my father says ‘hail Stalin’ and cared for me?”

“So what do we do now?” I asked.

“As far as I care, if anyone asks for magic and telepathy to be used as a weapon, like those godless Nazis did, then it is imperative we beat them up to a pulp. We are here to gather intelligence and stop the apocalypse, not to take another fire from the gods and hand it to the likes of Brezhnev!” he continued, “We’re already risking igniting World War 3 just by being here with a nuclear sub, let’s make it all worth while.”

We continued driving until we reached a forest, “This is the haunted forest that surrounds Greendale.” said Boris, “Just keep your eyes at the front and don’t look to your sides or your rear, you will not like what you will see.”

I did exactly what he said, because whenever I would just glimpse at the side mirror I’d end up seeing something unnatural…like a demon, or a pair of witches eating a cadaver out in the wild.”

“Those pair of witches-…they chased me out of this forest.” said Boris, probably knowing that I saw it by my reaction, admittedly I was disgusted and it showed.

“You, the so called ‘Butcher of Berlin’?” I asked, or so what his record said.

“They were no mere humans, you do not know what you’re facing.” said Boris, and he wasn’t all too wrong, I’ve only read up on the occult based on what we know, I have never seen one in the wild.

Boris then sharply looked to the side, “You know what, comrade? I think it’s time you have a taste of what I’ve been observing for the past month.” he said.

I adjusted my glasses, “What?” I asked blankly.

He stopped the car, “Come now, comrade, you can arm yourself with the AK47 at the back, I have spares.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. An actual SEATO conference in Manila was held on the 24th of October 1966, seven days away from you know who's sixteenth birthday.  
> 2\. The Soviets did in fact develop a manned torpedo that can be shot out of a torpedo tube for their Navy frogmen, it was called the 'Siren'  
> 3\. Bonus points if you notice as to the namesake of Boris Scherb and Valery Lukov respectively, they were inspired by the two main characters from the HBO mini series Chernobyl.


	4. Of Witches and Mortals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valery gets his first taste of the Occult

It became apparent that this Butcher of East Berlin had a rolling arsenal in the form of a trunk filled with Soviet weapons, he had a pair of AK47s with ammunition to boot, four pistols, a pair of submachine guns, an RPG with five rockets, and four grenades.

“How did you get this?” I asked.

“Soviet embassy and diplomat bags, it can get you a tank if you wanted to.” said Boris.

I brought my camera-shotgun with me before leaving the car, “I have a shotgun with me.”

Boris took notice of my weapons, “A gun disguised as a camera?”

“Yeah, a shotgun actually, great for close quarter combat.” I said.

Boris pulled out an AK47 with a collapsible stock and a sling, clipped a magazine, and cocked it. “Alright, whatever you want, comrade, I’m choosing this.” he said, I noticed that he also had a pistol underneath the coat.

He closed the trunk, “Alright, it’s time we go.”

I know it may sound cliched but it was indeed a dark and spooky forest, it’s one of those areas in the world where horror stories are usually set. Boris brought out a flashlight and switched it on but then he quickly switched it off and hissed “Get down!”

We crouched behind a thick bush and I could barely see four girls with four guys standing at the front of a cave. “That white haired teen is Sabrina Spellman.” said Boris.

“The-…”

“The herald of the satan.” said Boris.

I shook my head, she was the one wearing red, whereas the other girls were wearing black, and not to mention her silvery-white or maybe white-blonde hair, “I thought the herald of the devil would look like…a local party chairman!”

We were too far to hear what they were saying but it was becoming obvious that they were seducing the four high school boys, I have a bad feeling about this. “Just wait until they maybe start making love before eating them.” said Boris.

“You saw them do that before?” I asked.

“Only for the three, as for Sabrina…this is the first time I saw her out here.” said Boris, “She usually blends in with the humans.”

“Then how about the boys?” I asked.

“The local tough guys, I remembered rough housing one of them badly at the diner when they were harassing this young woman. I told them to stop it, one of them tried to punch me but I managed to catch it, and then I manhandled him out of the diner and made him kiss pavement….meaning I threw him into the street.” said Boris.

The girls managed to entice the boys into following them into the cave, and they collectively managed to entice us into following them. “What is this cave?” I asked as we entered the cave.

“Possibly a mineshaft.” said Boris, “Go and ask the Minister of Coal to see this place.”

The cave went on a straight but sloping path before spiraling downwards into a dead end where we found them doing, what else, making passionate love like a bunch of crazy and horny teenagers?

Did we bother to look? We were waiting for something else to happen, maybe the part where the fates of these humans are sealed. We sat behind an overturned mine cart and made sure the witches would not be able to see us.

“So…this is your hobby?” I jokingly asked over the moans that echoed through the cave.

Boris frowned, “Really?”

I chuckled softly, “I was just kidding.”

I do not know how to explain what happened next exactly, however what I could describe was how the sounds of the moans of the girls became more passionate and louder until the noises became soft sighs, that’s when the bloodshed began.

“Wait, what are you do-” one of the boys managed to say before he was killed by the claws the witch, in this case Sabrina Spellman, suddenly had, slashing the jugular veins is said to be the quickest way to kill anyone by a knife, in this case he had his neck slashed open.

Another one managed to say “You bitch…what are you-” before choking on his own blood.

It was gristly, even Boris flinched and was looking queasy, “They make for good KGB agents, that’s for sure.” he said.

On top of the gory murder that happened in front of us, it was their saying of ‘Hail Satan’ at the end that made it all worse for me and most likely for Boris as well.

We then heard soft footsteps, Boris immediately raised a finger and said “Hush, it could be a miner…or CIA.”

I looked behind us and saw a silhouette of a man wearing a suit, he was approaching towards our direction. He then spotted us and was about to say something until Boris straightforwardly told him “Don’t make a noise or we’ll be eaten.”

The man was reaching for his gun but seemed to believe Boris, he then looked around the corner and saw the ‘feast’ that was happening; a bunch of naked young women eating young men.

The man gagged, “Oh no, please don’t.” said Boris but it was too late as the man stumbled towards the side of the cave and spilled his guts out while exclaiming, “Oh my god, what the fuck was that!?” and it echoed too.

Boris rubbed his face, he then swung the stunned man around, noticed his ID sticking out of his front pocket and took it, “CIA, I knew it.” he hissed, “Well, he’s good as dead now.” Boris then took the man’s sidearm and a handkerchief, “We need to inform the CIA about this, maybe we’ll get them as our temporary ally.”

I then heard the witches noticing us, “I hear a mortal.” said one of the witches.

“Let us check.” said another.

“Oh shit.” said the man deliriously, it was as if he lost his sanity and will to live all of a sudden, he tried to run but ended up stumbling, falling on the ground, and he never got up.

“Let’s go.” said Boris.

We ran the hell out of that cave, we could see at the corner of our eye the shadows of the four girls taking the man, as to what they did to him…my imagination could not be too far fetched.

But it would get worse when we heard a girl say, “I think I hear other mortals running out of here.”

“That was Sabrina.” interjected Boris.

We then heard footsteps in our wake, they were following us like a pack of wolves chasing a prey, luckily however we reached the entrance of the cave and promptly saw a dumbass standing there with a clueless look on his face.

Boris placed his hand on the man’s mouth, “We know who you are, CIA, and you sent your partner down there to be eaten by a bunch of cannibalistic witches…now, will you come with us or do we have to give them dessert?”

The footsteps were coming closer. The man nodded and said nothing. “Good,” Boris, “we’ll hide there.” he pointed to a thick bush and a bunch of big rocks.

We hid behind the bush and rocks and saw the four naked and bloodied young women come out of the cave, “Go look for them, girls.” said one of the witches.

They walked past us, thankfully, and we were able to breathe properly. “Okay, now, let’s go back to the car.” said Boris.

The CIA man refused, “No, who the hell are you bunch?”

“Well the same goes for you.” said Boris, “We saw your partner down there with a CIA badge and a sidearm puking out his dinner before fainting, he’s most likely dismembered by those bloodied girls you saw.”

The man shook his head, “No…that’s impossible.” he hissed.

“Make it louder and you’ll be the next meal.” I said.

Boris showed to the man the ID card, the sidearm, and the handkerchief. The man exclaimed, “That’s Bobby’s handkerchief, it was sewn by his mother…he liked that hanky.” said the man somberly, “He-…he’s dead.” he said with dread.

“Do you know who we are?” I asked.

“Witches?” the man said.

Boris laughed, “Come on, let’s get him to the car.”

“B-…b…but who are you guys?” he asked, I guess he hasn’t seen the AK47 that’s slung beneath Boris’ coat.

“Just a pair of guys who will save you from a grave mistake.” said Boris, he then helped the man up, “Come, let’s go.”

We got into the car as quickly as possible with the man sitting at the back, and Boris quickly gunned the engine and got us out of there quickly. We were out of the forest in the nick of time, as how those Americans would usually say it.

“Who are you guys?” the man nervously asked.

I looked back and saw the man reaching for the red booklet I tossed at the back, “Hey, what-” I ended up saying as a spar of the moment, last attempt at distracting him.

Oh no, I thought, we’re dead. “You’re KGB!” exclaimed the man.

We didn’t react, instead Boris said, “Do you think that human factionalism matters when cannibal witches are on the prowl?”

I saw the man seemingly come to his senses, in that he let down his guard and began thinking, “You…you do make a point.” said the man, “But you must be the KGB agents that, and oh God I knew it, Moscow would send to Greendale.”

“Let me guess, no one listened to your hunch.” I said, I knew that the submarine option of getting me into the United States would have some holes in it, but it’s better than a paper trail if I were to take the civilian route, through the immigration and customs and all.

The man nodded, “Yeah, no one, which is why I came here with a backup to test my hunch that there will be KGB agents in this weird part of Greendale.”

“What is your name?” I asked.

The man was hesitant at first but then he sighed, “Fine, I’ll open up but only on the grounds that we will be working together.”

I glanced at Boris, he nodded, “Go ahead, I think this supernatural problem supersedes human rivalry. “

“I am Adam D. Bering of Stargate, a group focused on finding and learning about the occult.” said Adam.

Boris laughed and so did I. “What? You don’t believe me!” said Adam.

“The way you acted was unbecoming of what you claim to be.” said Boris.

“That was the first time I saw something that gristly and weird, I mean we usually get unhelpful tips from drunkards and dumbasses claiming to see…UFOs, monsters, and witches.” said Adam, “How about you two?”

“I am Valery Lukov.” I said, showing him my Arkham University identification card.

“Just call me Boris.” said Boris.

“Hey, full name, we agreed on openness.” protested Adam.

“Boris Scherb, I’ll show you my ID later unless you want us to be in an accident!” said Boris.

“Why were you here?” I asked.

Adam shrugged, “I had a hunch that the Soviet submarine spotted in the North Atlantic would end up being nearby, maybe to deposit or rescue an informant.”

This guy was good, I must admit. “Let me guess, everyone laughed at your idea?”

Adam nodded, “They told me to go here under my own penny and check it for myself.”

“Ouch.” commented Boris.

“Well, it seems that I was right…right?” he looked at me for an answer.

“Somewhat but not entirely.” I said, “But what do you know about the weirdness of Greendale?”

“Besides missing persons and witnesses claiming to see cult activities, nothing much.” said Adam.

“Well, something is about to go down on the 31st of October.” said Boris, “You better be prepared.”

We reached Boris’ house which was located at the fringes of Greendale, “What…will happen on Halloween?” asked Adam.

“That is what we’ll be discussing over a cup of tea, coffee, or hot chocolate.” said Boris as he switched off the engine.

Exactly what he said, the Butcher of East Berlin became host and offered us a cup of warm beverage of our choosing, I chose a mug of hot chocolate while Adam went for the coffee and Boris had tea.

 

We sat in the living room, a notable feature of the room would be a board with pictures and sketches of people around Greendale. Boris noticed my prying eyes, “The web of occult and non-occult people based on my spy work.”

Adam glanced at it, “You are one brilliant spy.” he said sincerely.

“What’s with the double photos over the name ‘Mrs. Wardwell?” I asked.

“Mrs. Wardwell is the teacher for drama at Baxter High, I was invited by the Principal to give talks to the Writers’ club and their school paper; Baxter Bulletin and as such I would usually see Mrs. Wardwell, she replaced an old lady named Evelyn Gardenia. Now, suddenly, one day Evelyn died and was replaced by this younger woman whom I have no Intelligence of.”

“The mysterious femme fatal.” remarked Adam, staring at the younger woman’s photo.

“She does have the air of one, and as you’ll see…her photo is connected to Sabrina Spellman, the two of them would always be conversing behind closed doors, something which I do find unusual.” said Boris, “As to what they would be talking about…well…” he then walked over to a desk and opened a drawer.

Boris placed a tape recorder/player on the table in front of us and allowed it to play, “They were talking about witchcraft.” surmised Boris after the tape was played.

I saw the look on Adam’s face, “That white-blonde haired girl…she did those evil things…and she’s studying in an American school?”

Boris nodded, “You said it well.”

“An excellent masquerade.” I remarked.

“Th-…this is a travesty of…” Adam was at a loss for words.

“Human justice? Human police? We’re going against supernatural foes here, sir.” I said, “If there is any travesty of something then it would be a travesty for humanity if we don’t do anything.”

“What could we do?” asked Adam.

Boris and I shared glances, the large man removed his coat and he was wearing a vest and a necktie underneath, “Shoot them if they go on a hunt for civilians.” he said.

“That’s the only thing we could do for now, unless if we could open up dialogue.” I said.

Adam looked at me weirdly as if I said something stupid, even Boris raised an eyebrow. “Are you mad? We do not negotiate with terrorists!” exclaimed Adam.

“Maybe they’re not aware of the new world order,” I explained, “it is most likely that these witches and warlocks are still disillusioned to the fact that we now have weapons that can destroy them completely, we are no longer in the days of burning witches at the stake, this is the 20th Century, we’ve gone to space, we’ve learned to fly!”

Boris nodded, “He’s right, that’s a good point, sometimes it’s best to get the enemy to doubt their own capabilities.”

“Oh, so we just knock on their door and say ‘let’s be friends or we’ll destroy you’?” said Adam.

“I suggest we teach them a lesson on Halloween night,” I suggested, “if their behavior of hunting and eating humans is the norm then I’d expect them to go on a hunt in celebration of the baptism of their Dark Herald.”

“Yes, the three of us armed with assault rifles and rocket launchers.” said Boris, “Even if we die, then they’ll know how hard each of us will be going down.”

“Not only that but if they do kill us…there…are sealed instructions to the Soviet fleet to train their missiles at Greendale forest.” I bluffed, in reality it was us who would be acting as front-line ordinance spotters, however the Captain of the Moscow is given prerogative to commence first strike if we are confirmed to be dead.

Adam took a deep breath, “Alright, you crazy Russians are our only hope, I do not think that my government would be taking me seriously.” he said.

“They were already put off by your theory of Moscow sending in an agent into a sleepy town with a lot of secrets, but if you were to add witches and magic into it…I won’t be surprised if they would send you straight into a mental hospital.” I said.

Boris snapped a finger, “I remembered, mental hospital; Sabrina’s mother is in a mental hospital meanwhile her father is presumed dead.”

“Have you spoken to her?” I asked.

Boris shook his head, “I was planning to, however my deep cover contact in the mental asylum had some trouble in forging release papers and court documents should we need to get her out of there.”

“Don’t worry, I have a badge, I was with the FBI before being put into the CIA - Stargate unit.” said Adam, flashing his FBI badge, “I think I can convince them to let us talk to her.”

Boris smirked, “Well, now I know what we could do for the morning before beginning to trail Sabrina in the afternoon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. For those who may have had that 'WTF' reaction with Sabrina and the Weird Sisters...well, the comics were darker, in fact one could say impractical to adapt to a tv series for continuity reasons such as character deaths or general jerkiness towards humans.  
> 2\. A shotgun disguised as a camera did exist but it was not made by the Soviets :( Instead it was a real-life murder attempt in New York where a man, claiming to be a detective, asked a gullible woman to 'take a picture' (Aim with the shotgun disguised as a camera) of a 'suspect' (the man's ex-wife) in 1946.


	5. Diana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boris pursues a lead on a possibly important informant, that is if they can get it out of her insane mind first.

What is it about October that makes it eventful? It was the month the communist revolution in Tsarist Russia began, and it is apparently the month of the birthday and baptism of the Antichrist? That is what was in my head as I fell asleep on the couch sometime at two in the morning, and we were woken up by the chirping of the birds and hourly chimes of the clock.

“Good morning, comrade.” said Boris, who was standing by the door sill with a mug of coffee, “Today, we’ll be heading out to Hearthstone Clinic to check on Sabrina’s mother, and then we’ll be trailing her in the forest at night.”

I sat up, “Got it.” I nodded.

“I made eggs, bacon, coffee, and there’s bread. You’ll like American food, believe me.” said Boris with a chuckle.

“Where’s the CIA guy?” I asked.

“He’s in the library, I gave him a book on the Occult.” said Boris, “The bastard’s enthralled apparently, I’m convince that if the progress of their space program matched Adam’s knowledge of the occult, we’d be on the Moon by now!”

I had breakfast, during which Boris spoke little about what we’re supposed to do next, so I decided to ask the question as soon my plate was empty, “Comrade, who is this mother of Miss Spellman?”

“Diana Spellman, my sources say that the father of Sabrina, Edward, went missing and is most likely dead, meanwhile her mother…well she is still alive and we found her in a mental institute.” said Boris.

“Ah, she went insane…magic induced?” I suggested.

“My sources say that her doctors have given up on her, so yes, there is a chance that it may be magically induced.” said Boris.

“What’s her use to us?” I asked.

“Don’t you see? She’s a normal human mortal who married a warlock, Edward, the amount of Intelligence we could get out of her would be plentiful.” said Boris.

Ah, so the ‘torture the family members as well’ strategy of the KGB, “Okay, but if it is magically induced, how can we get her our of her ins-…don’t tell me you know how to do hypnosis.”

“I thought you know how to?” said Boris uncertainly.

Technically speaking, I did, the problem is that I only did it once to a willing volunteer and right now he’s in the Moscow Institute for the Insane because he is utterly convinced that he was Vladimir Lenin, he tend to go into boisterous speeches about the revolution and things.

“I do…but I don’t have much experience.” I admitted.

“We won’t need much expertise, just enough to get her to talk.” said Boris, “And now, don’t you dare say ‘use your KGB tactics.’, I had problems with the mentally insane in my days as an Interrogator, they’ll just laugh off your threats.”

I smirked, “Ah, so you can’t crack open everyone.”

“I can, but the mentally insane are like bricks, you can only crack it open and find dust, nothing useful.” said Boris, “But Diana Spellman might be a different case, hopefully.”

***

We set out at half past six and was at The Hearthstone Clinic for the Mentally Unwell in two hours time, where we parked our car and got out without any of the guards stopping us, we spotted ten of them at the front, each was armed with a rifle.

Adam had his FBI badge and ID at the ready, while I wore my Arkham University ID, and Boris simply had his notebook. We walked into the front, was greeted by the guard on duty, and proceeded to the front desk where a nurse greeted us, “Good morning, who are you visiting today?”

“Diana Spellman.” I said.

“Are you a relative?” the nurse asked.

Adam flashed his FBI badge, “We are here to investigate the disappearance of her husband, and of course we want to know why she ended up insane.”

“We tried to cure her of her illness,” the nurse said exasperatedly, “but sadly we can’t do anything else, last night she had a breakdown in which she was screaming ‘witches, there’s witches in Greendale and my husband and my daughter are a part of their coven!’ over and over again, and also she was saying ‘I want my daughter back.’”

“Don’t worry, we brought with us a Professor Lukov of Arkham University, he’s a doctor in Parapsychology and unique cases of psychology.” said Adam.

“Good morning.” I greeted and shook her hands.

“I heard that her daughter is turning sixteen today.” added Boris, “I’m Freddie Cue, Greendale Gazette, and I have spoken to her daughter before.”

“I hope she’s doing fine, it’s even more fascinating that her birthday would fall on a Halloween with a full lunar eclipse!” remarked the nurse, “Anyhow, you can see Diana Spellman, follow me.”

We were led to a room that was a bit squalid and reminded me less of a hospital room and more of KGB interrogation/execution room, in the middle of this room was a woman with blonde hair and was wrecked to say the least of it, she looked as if she hadn’t had much sleep and was currently in a somewhat catatonic and sedated state.

“This is not a room.” grumbled Boris.

“Well, she’s been here for so long that we had to reserve the newer rooms for the more temporary patients.” said the nurse.

“You can leave us, thank you.” said Adam.

I took a closer look at Diana, who was sitting in a wheelchair that was facing the window. I approached her, she managed to look up at me, “The sedatives must have worn off.” I remarked.

“Well, do your usual thing.” said Boris.

I pulled up a chair and sat right in front of her, I then pulled out a pocket watch and began to swing it in front her, making sure that she had her eyes locked on it. “Now, Diana, look at nothing but the watch and listen to nothing but the watch…tick…tock...tick…tock…”

Her eyes followed my watch and she seems focused on nothing but the watch, “When I snap my finger, you will fall asleep and unlock your mind.” I then snapped my finger and her head fell asleep.

“Did it work?” asked Adam.

I asked her a question, “What is your name?”

“I am Diana Spellman.”

Boris smiled, “Do you have a daughter?” he asked.

“Yes, her name is Sabrina…she’s turning sixteen today, oh how I miss her.” she sniffed.

“Do you know anything about witches?” I asked, but then instead of answering she began to fidget which ended up into wildly shaking in her wheelchair as if she was either possessed or suffering a stroke.

“What’s happening?” said Boris.

I carefully said, “I retract what I said.” which made her stop moving.

“What is your name?” I asked again just to see if she was still hypnotized.”

“I am Diana Spellman.” she said.

“Okay, so it’s something about the ‘W’ word that makes her flip out.” said Adam, “Can you hypnotize it out of her?”

I decided to try, “Diana, you will not flip out when I mention ‘witch’.” and it did not work, she had another attack.

“I retract what I said.” and she stopped.

“Do you think something’s interfering with her mind, like some sort of magical jammer or something?” suggested Boris.

“Of course!” I exclaimed, “Our research shows that witches can project their magic, however most of the time they will need an object or an animal to see their target unless if it is done by a very skilled witch or warlock.”

Boris snappily looked around with his trained eye trying to spot something out of the ordinary but there was nothing out of the list of usual things found in a hospital.

But then he spotted something out the open window, he took out his pistol and fired a single shot, it ended up hitting this unusually large raven that was perched on a branch of a tree directly outside the window.

The nurse barged in through the door, “What was that?” she exclaimed, by then Boris had hidden his pistol and acted like nothing had happened.

“My gun misfired, I’m so sorry.” said Adam, “Damned budget cuts.” he added.

The nurse sighed, “It’s okay, I thought something bad happened, keep your gun outside if it’s malfunctioning next time.”

“Understood, again, I apologize.” said Adam.

Before the nurse left, Diana managed to wake up from her hypnotized state, “Where am I?” she asked.

“Oh my dear God, how did you do it, Professor?” the nurse was amazed.

“Hypnosis.” I said humbly.

“I should get the doctor.” said the nurse before leaving quickly.

I decided to use the time I was given, “Diana, what did happen to your daughter and your husband?”

Diana looked up at me and I saw hope and despair in her eyes, “My husband was a warlock…but…we..it wasn’t his child.”

Both Boris and Adam made a gasping noise of some form, “Please explain.” I said.

“I…felt…it…” she then began to sob.

I held her hand, “Diana, you can tell me, I will help you, most especially if your daughter is in danger.”

“I thought I was marrying the man that was meant for me…I mean that we were meant together, but instead…he allowed me to be raped by this…this…horned beast-…”

I decided to say nothing more as her recounting what happened is taking a toll on her, “I will stop if you can’t-…”

“No, if it’s for my daughter’s safety, then I must say it.” said Diana, “Edward explained to me later after the…incident that it was Satan himself that impregnated me.”

This must make it to a sane authority, maybe not Moscow nor Washington D.C, in my opinion. “What happened after you gave birth to Sabrina?”

“She was still mine, I gave birth to her and she was still my child.” she was sobbing at this point, “I tried to take her from Edward…but instead he and his unholy coven managed to put a spell on me…and I lost all memory that happened ever since, it was as if I woke up from a bad dream, only it wasn’t a dream.”

I turned to Boris, “We need to get her out of here, you’re right, she knows a lot!”

“I can get her out.” said Adam.

“Your authority only goes so far until the doctor starts phoning up the government.” said Boris.

“Trust me with this one.” said Adam.

As if on cue, the nurse returned with a doctor, “Is it true that she’s been cured?” the doctor asked.

“Yes.” said Adam, “My associate, Professor Lukov, had managed to use an advanced method in psychology.”

Yes, apparently hypnosis and blasting a raven into pieces equates to modern Soviet science, apart from the oversized batteries and cabinet sized bugging equipment.

The doctor was amazed but skeptical, “Can you describe what you did, Professor?”

“Well, I used this watch and placed her into a deep trance, in which she opened her mind and she dumped out everything that was in her head.” I said.

The doctor then looked at Diana, who looked back at him, the doctor nodded and said “Diana, are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” said Diana.

“Well, that was unusual, but thank you for your help, Professor Lukov, she’s been here for more than a decade, and I heard, just in time for her daughter’s sixteenth birthday.” said the doctor.

“Well, about that, we want to bring her to her daughter…and also I want her transferred to under my watch.” I said.

“Well, you can have her, admittedly we were left with no options other than to sedate her and let time take its course but apparently you managed to cure her.” said the doctor.

“Give Misses Spellman her things, we’re bringing her back by today.” said Boris.

“Yes, of course.” said the nurse, “Her things are in the basement, I’ll get them.”

The doctor excused himself, “I have other patients to look after, at least our longest resident patient is now cured, thank you.” he said before leaving.

I breathed a sigh of relief, I then felt Diana holding my hand, “Whoever you are, Mister, I thank you.”

“Call me Valery.” I said.

“It’s alright madam, we’ll get you out of here.” said Boris, “And we will find your daughter and save her from this cult.”

“Very brave of you, you don’t know what you’re dealing with.” said Diana.

“Doesn’t matter.” said Boris, “Better than doing nothing, that’s for sure.”

The nurse returned with a box, “These were the things on her when she was brought here.”

Boris went through the door, “Get dressed, Misses Spellman, we’ll be outside.” he said.

We stepped outside and waited for her to dress, “Now this is an interesting piece of information,” I began, “a woman defiled by Satan himself, the exact opposite of the virgin birth of Mother Mary.”

“Could make for a good novel or a movie.” said Adam.

“Poor woman.” said Boris, shaking his head.

The door sunk and revealed a nurse as well as Diana Spellman dressed in an ivory white dress with earrings and a necklace, “We’ll just log her out and then she’ll be free to go.” said the nurse.

We followed the nurse back to the front desk where they had to look for the record book from sixteen years ago, more or less, and she signed beside her name.

When we were at the door, Diana embraced me, Boris, and Adam, and gave each of us a peck on the cheek. “Thank you.” she said with tears in her eyes, tears of joy that is. She took a deep breath, she was a free bird now.

“Let’s go back to Greendale.” said Boris.

***

As we drove back to Greendale, when we drove past the road leading into the town along the coastline, I noticed that the waters were now festering with the gray hulls of the U.S. Navy. They are now being hunted, as to who I’m talking about depends on who gets their ordinances on the target first, however I am convinced that it is the U.S. Navy who are in danger.

I could not say anything of it as we had two Americans in tow, however if Boris’ facial expressions were to be an indication of anything, he too was worried about the US Navy’s chances of survival.

As we drove past the forest, Diana became livid, “This was the forest! This was where I was hunted and nearly killed by the coven!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll deal with them later.” said Boris.

“I hope Sabrina still remembers me…but…she may have been taken and…and influenced by those…bastards!”

“We’ll deal with them, don’t worry.” said Boris.

It’s either Boris has a plan or he’s being way too overconfident, we may end up being like Diana Spellman if we’re not careful, although it’s most likely that we would be shot by the KGB or the GRU.

When we reached Boris’ home, he told me to follow him upstairs while Adam would remain with Diana at the living room. He knew what the big elephant in the room was when he led me to his bedroom, “The contact failed to keep the Americans away.” he hissed.

“But I still have the frequency of the Moscow in here.” I tapped the side of my forehead.

“But what if the Americans, by chance, pick up our transmission?” asked Boris, I did not even know he had a radio, my plan was to hijack a transmitter or run to the Soviet embassy.

“Wait, you have a radio?” I asked.

Boris nodded, he then walked over to his cabinet and opened it, revealing a radio dish, a radio transmitter, a radio receiver, a microphone, a morse code machine, and a speaker. “What was the frequency of the submarine?”

“Why, what’s your plan?” I asked.

“As what the American saying goes, ‘tell it to the marines’.” said Boris.

I didn’t catch his drift at first but then it hit me, “Wait a minute, you want to storm the coven meeting with a bunch of Soviet marines?”

“By chance, is Captain Marko Ivanov in charge of the sub?” asked Boris.

I nodded, “Yes.” I answered.

He smiled “Good, I heard of that old sea wolf, he should know what to do.”

“But where would we meet up with them?” I asked.

“On the battlefield, I have a hunch as to where the witches would be conducting their rite, there is a clearing in the forest with stones arranged as a form of table, a parody of the tabernacle at church.” said Boris.

***

Marko and his crew had been on their toes for the past twenty four hours, their sonars picked up the presence of US Navy destroyers on the surface and they have been bracing for the depth charges to come, even though they were deeper than the reach of any depth charge, the fear of a brand new weapon being deployed at them shook their nerves.

In the midst of the deafening silence that fell on the submarine, they heard a clicking noise. “We have a message?” whispered the First Officer to the radio operator.

“It’s in morse code, I’m decoding it, sir.” said the radio operator as he wrote down what he heard before translating it into letters, he then handed the piece of paper to the Captain.

The message read as; ‘To the Moscow, this is Boris Scherb and Valery Lukov, we’re requesting for Marine support before midnight at forest of Greendale. Urgent. Details and Information later. Mission is suicidal but a must.’

“Captain, I’m receiving numbers…” the radio operator said as he was writing down the new message.

The Captain looked at the number and handed it to the navigator, who pulled out a land map of Greendale and Riverdale and slid it underneath the glass navigation table, “It’s right here sir, the coordinates of the target is here.” said the navigator as he encircled the area with a red marker .

“Our comrades call for aid, Moscow shall answer.” said Marko.

“But Captain,” hissed the First Officer, “how will we get them there?”

“We’ll think of that later, for now I need to speak to the contingent of Marines and every crewman that is not essential to the technical running of this submarine.” said Marko, “Summon the marines and non-essential crewmen to their bunks, I want to speak to them.”

“Yes sir.” said the First Officer before disappearing through a hatchway, meanwhile the Captain went straight to the bunks and waited for the crew.

Marko greeted each crewman as they entered the room through the doorway, each man was surprised to see the Captain waiting for them patiently. Once the First Officer appeared and said “That’s the last one of them, Captain.”, Marko nodded and stood in the middle.

“Gentlemen, as you know, your assignment here was not an accident, I only chose from those who fought in the Great Patriotic War against the Nazis, some of you here I remembered seeing at Stalingrad and even at Berlin.

We have received an urgent telegram that is related to our mission, and I summoned you here as I want to make it clear that the motherland now needs courageous volunteers who will come with me on a rubber boat to land in the coast line and fight an ungodly enemy.

The true purpose of our mission was to rescue a comrade that has discovered the existence of witches, yes, Satanic witches who are working to bring about the apocalypse, the likes of which we were taught as being foretold by the Bible. But the last time I checked, the Bible had not foretold the existence of Russia, of humanity advancing towards the heavens!

And most especially, the Bible has not foreseen the fine body of brave men and their Captain of the Moscow.

However, our comrades have now fallen into deeper trouble, and now the witches have virtually declared war against the Soviet Union by harming her agents.

There are sixty five men in this room right now, the motherland needs volunteers, and I leave it to your own judgement as I need proper volunteers who will be decided on what to do and what they ought to do. Let there be no illusions, this will be most likely a one-way trip.

I want no questions, I’ve told you everything we know. Who will volunteer?”

The first marine stood up, “I serve the Soviet Union.” he said, he then went forward and shook the Captain’s hand.

“I serve the Soviet Union.” said another, and in a similar fashion as to the first one, went up to the Captain and shook his hand, this went on until the number dwindled.

The sixty five in the room became sixty volunteers, the remaining five had wanted to volunteer but the Captain decided that they were too old, besides this was to be their last deployment before being given an honorable discharge due to their old age and as such Marko had to tell them that while the motherland thanks them for their courage, she too knows when it’s time to stop as she is a caring mother. (A caring mother that happens to have a long line of executioners and interrogators ready to enforce her ‘care’.)

Marko scanned the faces of the volunteers, he realized that all of them fought in the bloodiest battles of the Great Patriotic War, if his memory of their records served him correctly, they were still strong and eager for a fight despite of the fact that they were now in their late thirties, and even if this fight would be their last.

After the Captain had issued them further instructions to write their last will and testimonies on any paper they can find, including toilet paper if they had to, the First Officer approached him and said, “Now how will we get them to the shore with the Americans on top of us?”

“If the Navy does not stand down, fire a disarmed torpedo heading away from us and have it self destruct after five minutes, it should distract them for long enough for us to surface, deploy the rubber boats, and paddle to the shore.” said Marko.

The First Officer simply nodded and asked nothing of the plan, he simply lamented in his head ‘We serve the Soviet Union.’


	6. Sweet Sixteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of the dark baptism comes.

We waited pretty much for what remained of the afternoon for a reply, I began growing impatient and restless with the silence, “Do you think they received it?” I asked.

Boris nodded confidently, “Knowing Captain Ivanov, he will show up when we need him.” he said.

“I don’t know much about him, other than the fact that he’s the man developing the tactics for the new submarines.” I said.

“He is in the Navy, his father was one of the men who was aboard the Aurora when the shot was fired, and his older brother was on the Potemkin during the uprising.” said Boris, “As for Marko Ivanov himself, he joined the navy as an eighteen year old recruit in 1935, but due to the German offensive, he was made to fight on land…in Stalingrad.”

“The most hellish of all land battles against the Germans.” I said.

“It was a brutal siege, but Marko had managed to conduct small-unit strikes against the enemy, eventually he joined the main offensive force heading towards Berlin and it was said that he himself had raised a victory banner over the Brandenburg Gate, he was also part of the soldiers who liberated Auschwitz.” explained Boris.

I was impressed, “So you think that this man would end up conjuring a group of twenty men to go to the beaches, go to the forest, and fight some ungodly and Satanic enemy?”

“After surviving the wrath of the Germans, witnessing the concentration camps in Poland, and raising the Soviet flag over the Brandenburg Gate, shortly after the flag over the Reichstag, I think this man can pull off a nearly one hundred man assault.” said Boris, he then looked at the time, it was sunset. “Let’s go for dinner, we have a Sabrina to find.”

He then walked over to his desk and opened a drawer, he placed two shot glasses on the table and filled it with vodka, “To humanity.” he raised his glass.

I was about to say ‘To the Motherland’ but then I realized that this was not a fight for the Soviet Union, it went above and beyond present day politics, “To humanity.” I replied before our glasses clinked as we shared a toast to humanity and the survival of it.

“Now let’s go.” said Boris in Russian.

We both went downstairs and saw Adam looking out the window while Diana was staring at a photo of her holding a baby, and a man who I assumed to be Edward Spellman. “Are we ready?” asked Boris.

Adam nodded without looking back at us, “You know, I just have a bad feeling about this forest.”

“Same here, but we need to confront these bastards and either make peace with them or destroy them.” said Boris.

“We need to save my baby, my daughter…” said Diana, with a tear flowing down her cheek.

“We will.” I said.

***

“Up scope.” ordered Marko. He peered through the periscope and saw that there was still one US Destroyer with a hull number DDG-21. He turned to his sensors officer, “Anything on the radar?”

The Moscow was currently at periscope depth, though still under the water but close enough to the surface to extend the periscope and the sensory systems - radar, radio, and other tools for electronic warfare - above the water.

The radar operator nodded, “Yes, Captain, we have ten low flying contacts heading towards the coastline.”

Marko the noticed some sort of commotion happening on the deck of the destroyer, the sailors that he could barely see in the dark were pointing at something towards the sky.

A flash of light blinded the captain, he cursed in Russian, “The yankees have fired an anti-air missile!”

“At what?” asked the First Officer.

“At something small…smaller than a fighter jet…” answered the radar operator, “but going really quickly, at about half the speed of sound.”

“Not Soviet, that’s for sure.” said Marko, “Our fighter planes couldn’t be that small.”

He then saw the destroyer powering away from them, “They seem to be running away…” he stepped away from the periscope, “Down scope, surface the submarine.” he ordered, he then told his First Officer, “I’m going up.”

He climbed up the Conn tower, snatched a pair of binoculars that were hanging in the upper decks of the tower, and waited for the First Officer to give the all clear to open the hatch, which came quickly through the small speaker located just below the hatch.

He opened the hatch and scanned the skies with his binoculars, he swore beneath his breath as he saw ten women flying on broomsticks. They flew overhead and went straight for the coast, he then spotted the glowing light of the anti-air missile heading straight back at the destroyer steaming away at flank speed.

Marko went back to the submarine, “Isinov.” he said, calling his First Officer, “I just saw the anti-air missile heading straight for the destroyer.”

“Yes, Captain, the radar officer is reporting the same thing. What were those ten unknown objects?” asked Isinov.

“Witches.” said Marko, he then turned to his Political Officer, Vasiliev, “I need to speak with you and Isinov at the officer’s cabin.” he said seriously.

He led them to the officer’s cabin where he removed a chain hanging around his neck where his keys for the safe and the nuclear missiles were kept, “Isinov, I hereby promote you as Captain of the Moscow, if I do not return…and if you see any satanic attack against this submarine, you are authorized to conduct a missile strike, nuclear or otherwise.” he then paused, “Understood?”

Isinov snapped to attention, snapped a salute, received the keys, and said, “Captain, it has been an honor to have served under you.”

“It’s my honor.” said Marko, “Now, I will be bringing a mobile radio unit along with us, keep the sensory mast above water. Should we not return by midnight, I want you to launch one cruise missile at the coordinates we received, and then go to an emergency dive once the missile is away.”

“Yes sir.” said Ivinov.

“Prepare to receive orders should the situation change, keep the sensory mast above water.” stressed Marko.

“Yes, sir.” said Ivinov.

The political officer kept silent, the situation was so bizarre that the whole ‘loyalty to the communist party’ seems obviously stupid now that he saw with his own eyes on the radar screen, as he had managed to steal a glimpse of the screen from behind the radar operator, something that managed to dodge and re-direct an American anti-air missile that the Soviet Air Force was scared of.

“I expect both of you to do your duties.” said Marko.

“Yes, sir.” said Ivinov and Vasiliev in unison.

“Prepare the volunteers and the rubber boat.” ordered Marko.

***

We got into Boris’ car and drove to, what else, the house of the Spellmans which was also a cemetery. “I don’t remember seeing this place…” said Diana.

“Where were you situated before?” I asked.

“Westbridge.” said Diana.

“We’re in Greendale, though Westbridge isn’t that far.” said Boris, “They must have moved then.”

Boris parked the car in some side road where we could still see the foreboding house in the distance, “To think that this is the exact spot where I was nearly killed.” said Boris.

“How, by them?” asked Diana.

Boris nodded and recounted his story, “I was investigating the disappearance of a young boy, I found his rotting body emptied of its organs just across the house right there, that’s when the two; Hilda and Zelda found me.”

“Those two monsters!” said Diana.

Little less than thirty minutes or so, the door of the house opened and out came three women all dressed in white, with one of them wearing some sort of red scarf, and also a young looking man emerged from the darkness of the forest with a goat in tow.

“Hilda, Zelda, and-” said Boris.

“Sabrina!” exclaimed Diana

“Ah, the one with the red scarf I see.” I said, “She sure does love red.”

I do not know if God had a sense of humor or not, but I swore I could hear a song that goes ‘Happy birthday sweet sixteen…’ on the radio with its lowered volume.

Boris seemed to have noticed me noticing the radio, “Sorry, I had to keep the radio on just in case something is happening in other nearby towns…or maybe in Greendale proper even.”

I then saw the two older witches holding their broomsticks preparing to fly, and as for Sabrina, well she had to use the goat to fly (by the Politburo, I wished I was kidding!) As for the one young looking man, he went back inside the house.

“After them!” exclaimed Adam.

Boris shoved the car into gear, gunned the engine, and drove at the direction which the witches were flying towards. With me acting as a rather unreliable bio-radar, yelling at Boris if they changed directions, we managed to trail them to a clearing in the forest. “Ah, see, I told you, the clearing with the stones.” said Boris, I sure do hope that the marines show up before we’re eaten!

We got out of the car and hid behind a fallen tree covered in bushes and maybe a few insects, as what is usually found in decaying organic matter, although I had been wary of any nasty and deadly insects and maybe a snake or two given the evil nature of this damned forest.

There were dozens of witches surrounding the ‘tabernacle’, they seemed to have come from different places of the world with some wearing clothes that looked African, or Chinese, or South-East Asian, or European, and other clothing styles that I could not recognize, although one thing is for certain and that is they were all wearing the color white.

“Some United Nations.” I heard Boris comment in a whisper.

I looked up and saw the moon disappear and turn into this reddish blood moon, I wondered what if we landed men on the Moon at this moment, would something weird happen to them?

We saw a blue light flicker somewhere 3 O’clock of our position, I turned and saw a blue flame and it was seemingly burning someone who I immediately recognized to be Sabrina. The flame barely harmed her, I’m guessing it’s some flame that can cleanse someone spiritually.

Sabrina and her two aunties then approached the tabernacle, and by then the coven began to dance under the moonlight, all the while a blue hue - similar to the shade of the blue cleansing flame - surrounded all of them, including us like some sort of fog.

A few moments later, the attention of the coven turned to this woman wearing black, like that of the clothing of a nun, with an inverted cross hanging on her chest, and she had horns on her head. This anti-nun dismounted from her mount, a black stag, and approached the tabernacle with a cup in one hand and a wafer on the other.

Boris slowly backed away and went to the trunk of the car where he pulled out several weapons, it seemed that the man was planning to mount a three-man (or two-man if CIA doesn’t end up puking) assault on the coven.

By the time Boris came back with a PK machine gun for him and an AK47 for me, the head of the ceremony - the anti-nun - called Sabrina to approach her, in which Sabrina knelt before this woman, who said ‘In the name of the Fallen, Defiled, and Blasphemed…’, I could hear the clicks of Boris priming his machine gun punctuating the end of each name.

“Amen.” replied Sabrina before taking the wafer and drinking whatever was in that cup.

Someone then brought the goat that Sabrina rode and someone else gave Sabrina a machete, a group of witches then placed the goat on the tabernacle. In the presence of the who I presume was the head priestess, and in the presence of her fellow witches, Sabrina slaughtered the goat with one fell swoop of the machete, covering her white dress with blood.

They then began to chant ‘Hail Satan’ over and over again until…by God, by Moscow, by the Politburo, by Brezhnev, and by humanity…it was Satan himself, that large beast with horns and a hellish look, conjured in our mortal world.

Boris took aim with his machine gun, I placed my hand on top of his iron sights and whispered, “Not now, we’re outnumbered by a hundred or so.”

Thankfully he didn’t shoot, but he still kept his finger near the trigger and the business end pointed at the devil.

“By Moscow, they did it.” said Boris.

Their hailing became louder and ecstatic, “I think I’d rather hear heil hitler rather than this.” I remarked.

Satan carried a book, which he set down in front of Sabrina and we hard his voice rumble through the air, the trees, and the forest, as if everything in the area echoed his voice; “You danced for me, you spilled blood for me, now, write your name in my book and be my hand maiden, Sabrina Spellman.”

The coven went silent as Sabrina approached Satan, who handed the young woman a quill for her to sign her name.

I saw Sabrina hesitate for a moment with the quill at her hand but I guess she had no other choice, refuse the devil and he will surely kill you, so she signed it. Barely had she signed her name on the paper when we heard an unexpected voice shout “Sabrina!?”

Boris recognized the voice, “It’s Harvey, what the hell is he doing here?”

“Sabrina, what…what’s going on?” the whole forest heard that stupid boy say.

I saw the shocked look on Sabrina’s face, she shouted, “Harvey, RUN!”

The witches assembled suddenly became beasts as if and most likely by magic, the head priestess issued an order; “Kill him, don’t let him out of this forest!”

“Not if I can help it!” shouted Boris, he then began shooting, and so did I, and then eventually our duet of gunfire multiplied in the distance as we heard unseen men saying ‘For Moscow!’, ‘Remember Borodino!’, ‘We won Berlin, what can’t we win?’

“Captain Ivanov.” I said, “His marines…”

We heard a pfft sound and I saw someone firing a rocket at the devil, the explosion shattered the tabernacle but Satan was unscathed.

We felt someone approach us, we turned around and saw Captain Marko Ivanov with the widest grin on his face, “Good evening, comrades, how goes the battle?”

Boris smiles and shook hands with Marko, “I knew you’d come on time!”

“Just like when I managed to save a bunch of soldiers pinned down at a street corner in Berlin.” said Marko.

“WHO ARE THESE MORTALS?!” the voice of the devil boomed.

“THE SOVIET UNION!” shouted Marko, his voice echoing, no one dared to answer the devil back except him.

Spontaneously, and I swear that this has not been forced unto me by the propaganda arm of the Party, the soldiers began singing the national anthem;  ‘Soyuz nerushimy respublik svobodnykh/Splotila naveki velikaya Rus'!’ - An unbreakable union of free republics, The Great Russia has welded forever to stand!

Boris and I ended up singing the anthem as well, but of course the head priestess had to step in, “Enough! You have defiled the holy forest of our Dark Lord, you will pay with your blood!”

“YOU WILL TASTE MISSILE!” shouted Marko, he then summoned a radio man and he said to the soldier in Russian; ‘Call for a cruise missile strike!”

The devil stepped in, “ENOUGH. I demand a fight with one of you!”

“A fight?” shouted Boris.

“A fight, you have the guts to target my handmaidens, then I shall face down one of your best.” said Satan.

“Okay, I am that best, but on one condition.” said Boris.

“I SET THE CONDITIONS!” boomed Satan.

“Then you are a coward, what kind of a creature are you to have so many bitches if you are a coward?” said Boris.

I was smirking, Boris was taunting the devil to a fight!

“Fine, then I too shall set one condition and you shall set one of your own; if you lose, you die, if I win…my coven shall destroy Greendale!” declared the devil.

“And I demand that you turn into a mortal form.” said Boris.

The devil laughed, “Is that all? You do not want riches?”

“All I want is a fair fight.” said Boris.

The beast figure of the devil transformed into this handsome young, tall, and muscular dandy, who by the way had no clothes on, “Come and get me.” said the devil.

Boris left the machine gun and approached the devil in human form, at first I thought that the devil would have made himself more muscular and taller than Boris, and boy did the devil regret not doing so, a result of the original sin of any human being; pride. Boris, the Butcher of East Germany was a head and a half taller than the devil, and is bigger.

For a moment I thought I saw the devil shed a tear in the pair of eyes now sunken in fear. Boris began the beat down with a straight punch to the devil’s chest, which sent the enemy falling backwards, Boris then stomped on the fallen devil and gave him a hard kick to the side.

The finishing move was a KGB classic, dirty but practical, using his left boot, he stepped on the devil’s chest and using his right foot, he kicked the devil by the chin, forcing his head sideways, and then he gave the side of the chin one strong stomp.

We heard a loud crack as Boris snapped, practically decapitating, the devil’s neck, the body went limp and was dead where it lies.

I saw no pride on Boris’ face, instead he stepped away from the devil and nodded, he addressed everyone in saying “He was a good opponent, but truth be told, fuck him!”

The soldiers responded with cheering and breaking into army songs that I could recognize, they were singing V Put, or Let’s Go. I turned to Marko and said, “Did you bring the Soviet marines or the Red Army Choir?” I joked.

Marko and I laughed but our laughter was interrupted by the devil, now both in beast and human form, reappearing in the forest clearing. The human form, who looked annoyed and embarrassed, approached Boris, “Fine, you win-…”

But the devil was interrupted by the priestess exclaiming, “Where is the Book of the Beast!?” Not only that, but Sabrina was also nowhere to be seen.

The forest fell silent, the witches assembled had the looks of disbelief and despair on their faces, it’s as if someone had said that Moscow has fallen to an enemy army.

Marko took command, he started barking orders, he told his marines to stand in parade inspection in the clearing immediately. I approached Boris, who was standing near the devil, “How could a big book like that disappear, where’s Sabrina?” I asked.

Zelda, who was standing nearby, came out of the darkness of the forest and said, “Sabrina went looking for Harvey, he’ll be dead by now.”

We then heard Marko barking at his troops, “WHO HERE STOLE THE BOOK!?” and when no one responded, “WE WERE CALLED BY THE REVOLUTIONARY SOVIET TO FIGHT AND NOT TO STEAL OR DEFILE ANYONE!”

I did hear a thing or two about the rotten behavior of Soviet soldiers in Germany, something tells me that Marko were one those officers to have shot their erring troops who committed heinous crimes.

“I saw an American take it, sir!” shouted a Marine.

“Explain.” said Marko.

Boris and I looked behind us and saw Diana Spellman, “Where’s Adam?” said Boris.

“That CIA stole the book!” I exclaimed.

The devil growled and declared, “If I do not have the book back by the dark sabbath, my handmaidens will unleash hell on humanity until I get the book back!” before disappearing into thin air.


	7. Who's with who!?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The world sometimes is a revolver door of knives, someone is going to backstab someone eventually!

The witches did not bother hang about in the cathedral of the devil, however I must admit that things became a little bit blurry at that point onwards after the devil walked away in frustration, an achievement which I do believe would rival that of the Moon landings.

A certain witch who led the chase against the stupid boy named Harvey caught Boris’ attention, “You see that witch over there? That looks like the replacement teacher in Baxter High.” he said softly.

I then saw that this familiar witch had been carrying the horribly dismembered body of Harvey, it was at the point that I wondered where Sabrina was, but then another witch was carrying someone, and yes it was Sabrina Spellman, knocked out cold.

The witch handed Sabrina to her aunties, Zelda carried her by herself, “Come on now, most especially you mortals, we want to speak to you.” she commanded, she then did a double take on the woman standing at the far end of the clearing, “Diana, is that you?”

Boris and I raised our guns, if there were to be any attempt at harming Diana, we go in and most likely never get out. “I don’t care what you’re thinking.” snapped Zelda, “Follow us.”

“I don’t think the witches would like marching with the Red Army Choir.” remarked Boris as we heard the commands that preceded a march being yelled by Marko to his troops, this included what marching song they will be singing.

The forest echoed with the lyrics to ‘It’s a Long Way to Tipperary’, ‘We Are the Army of the People’ (Note: it was sung really loud and proud), ‘V Put’, and then they repeated the first two songs before we reached the Spellman household.

By the end of the march, the Spellmans were stuck with their head priestess, a bunch of singing Red Army Choir-Marines, a pair of KGB agents, and Sabrina’s mother.

“Oh why in Satan’s name couldn’t you stop singing!?” snapped Zelda as she stood in front of the door to their home.

We fell silent, “We stopped singing because the march is over.” said Marko, his voice then thundered the orders for the troops to fall into parade formation and to stand in attention.

“Okay,” began Zelda, who was still carrying Sabrina in her arms, “I want to speak with you once I put Sabrina on her bed, you mortals have a lot of explaining to do.”

We then heard a marine cry, “Sir, we forgot about the missile!”

Marko’s eyes grew as he slapped his forehead, but it was too late as a large and bright fireball was visible from the direction of the clearing.

Zelda shook her head and I thought I heard her say “Oh fuck you all!” before disappearing into the house along with Zelda, the priestess, and other witches of the North American continent I guess, they seemed to be fewer than they were before in the clearing and I could no longer see those who were sporting clothing representing their region.

“I think we’ve gotten their attention.” said Marko to us.

“We sure did.” said Boris.

“Was this your plan all along?” I asked.

Boris nodded, “Yep, but there’s one problem…that traitor stole something super important to the witches and now the devil is threatening to destroy all of Greendale if he doesn’t get his book back.”

“What is it about that damned book anyway?” asked Marko.

“You see,” I began, “the Judeo-Christian-Islamic faiths all had some sort of register of those who will be saved, for the Jews it was a literal list, and I do believe for the Christians and Muslims, only God knew the list. Now, it is therefore safe to assume that this church of the devil has something similar to that, a list of all their members. I am surprised that the CIA would take interest in something like it, I thought it was the KGB who was obsessed with lists.”

“Well, now we’re in trouble.” added Marko, “That damned CIA agent!”

Zelda then emerged from the door, “Alright, I want you, you, you, and most especially, YOU, to come in.” she said, referring to me, Marko, Boris, and - most especially - Diana.

Marko commanded his troops to stand at ease and to dismiss before following Boris, Diana, and me into the Spellman household, where we were told to sit down around the dining table with Boris and Zelda on the opposite ends of the table.

“Where is the book?” asked Zelda.

“It’s with Adam, the CIA traitor we picked up.” said Boris, “I do not know who he’s working with, if whether or not his actions are commanded by the President or someone within the chain of command.”

“Do you know what the Dark Lord will do to us if the book has been lost? He will most likely strike off all our names and leave us to die a mortal death.” said Zelda through gritted teeth.

We remained silent.

“What is it that you want with us?” asked Zelda, crossing her arms, “We tolerated you mortals because you were weak and we were strong, now you bunch had managed to pick off half of the great coven present but without killing them all the while having no losses…and you had managed to ‘accidentally’ destroy the tabernacle built upon the very grounds which the False God had struck down our Dark Lord from heaven.”

Boris seemed to be smiling at the way things were going, “Yes, this is a wake up call to you witches that the human race and its science has become the victor over magic.”

“Destroy us, madam, and we can just take you out with nuclear armaments as collateral damage.” added Marko.

“We are willing to help you of course.” I said.

Zelda looked unimpressed, “With what reward?”

“Nothing much.” said Boris, “Maybe if you can stop hunting children within the area and choose instead abusive parents, and the corrupt politicians of the Politburo?”

“I cannot speak for all, I’m sorry, but fine, we shall stop hunting for children within Greendale-”

“No, I want you to stop hunting any innocent human life permanently.” I butted in.

Zelda nodded in silence.

“Moving on, how are we going to explain the death and disappearance of Harvey?” asked Boris, “From what I know, he is the talk of the town because of the upcoming Riverdale-Greendale football match.”

“We’ll think of something.” said Zelda.

“And one more thing,” I said, “you will treat Misses Spellman with respect.”

Zelda slapped the table, “NO!”

Boris remained calm, “Why?”

“Because she had, at every point, acted to subvert our coven.” said Zelda.

“Sabrina is my child!” protested Diana.

 

“Sabrina is the Dark Lord’s child, not yours!” said Zelda, and then to the three of us, “As for you Soviets, you better help us find the book or, in the Dark Lord’s name, you’ll be our next lunch!”

“Yes, and you’ll be the first to taste Cold War nuclear-”

“Oh shut up, Captain, you can’t scare me with nuclear weapons any further.” hissed Zelda, “I was there in Hiroshima, not in the main target area but I was within the region, I saw what you did, and that’s when I asked who are the true monsters on the face of the Earth!”

Who are the true monsters on the face of the Earth? She has a good point right there, so good in fact that Boris decided to change the subject, “Let’s get back to the matter at hand, we will find the book in exchange for the things we agreed, are we clear?”

Zelda nodded.

We heard the floorboards creak and saw at the corner of my eyes a dark and handsome figure standing by the door, it was the devil in his human form and this time he’s wearing clothes. “There will also be consequences for some of you here.” said the devil.

“W-…what would that be then? O have mercy on us!” said Zelda, and for the first time I saw that uptight woman creak and cower in fear.

The devil stood straight and confident, like a young and confident jackass, “I hereby rule that Sabrina is to be meted a severe punishment, I will make her mortal and she shall be the first target of my coven worldwide if the book is not found, and also she shall be assisting you…mortals in looking for the book, or else.”

He then pointed a finger at Diana, who then began to have trouble breathing and collapsed to the floor, “She’s not dead, but I have her soul, I am impressed by what you have done, Mister Lukov, but I’m afraid she is to be mine.”

I decided to ask a very awkward question for the hell of it, “Um…Mister Satan?”

The devil looked annoyed, “Yes, Mister Lukov?”

“May I make two requests, one a simple question and the other…a plea on behalf of Sabrina?” I said, I saw Boris’ reaction to what I have just said.

The devil joined us in the table, “For managing to be smarter than most mortals that I have met and punished, I shall listen.”

“Okay, can Sabrina at least meet her mother…and then you take her away from Sabrina?” I said.

The devil looked impressed, “Ah, much more emotionally tormenting than I thought, well done, Mister Lukov!”

“Secondly, a question, is Marilyn Monroe with Stalin?”

“As her punishment, yes.” said the devil.

“Thank you.” I said.

To be honest with anyone reading this, that question came from a Russian joke where Khrushchev, upon his death, went to hell and saw the likes of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao being punished horribly by the devil, but then he saw Stalin with Marilyn Monroe on his lap, the punchline was that it was a punishment for Marilyn Monroe and not necessarily for Stalin.

The devil then stood up and said, “My demands still stands, Sabrina will be punished severely along with the rest of the world if the book is not found.” Diana’s eyes opened as the devil returned her soul, “As for her, she shall die with Sabrina.” and with that, the devil walked out through the door and disappeared.

“Our work begins at daybreak.” said Boris.

***

The Chairman of the KGB was standing by the window in his office at the KGB headquarters, the hornet’s nest, it was from here that the likes of Lenin, Stalin, and Khrushchev have ordered the Chairmen of the KGB to conduct disappearances, killings, and misinformation

This time however, the order never came from the men above, the Chairman smiled as he looked at the city of Moscow, he had received telegram that the real spymaster of Stargate was assassinated on his way back from Manila, and they sent a Soviet mole to conduct a special mission for the State.

If he had been a child, he would have been leaping around in glee like a boy on Christmas Day; the book! The KGB had managed to steal the book of the devil! Now, magic could be wiped out and from there on be considered as nothing but a figment of the imagination.

The telephone rang, he answered it, “Comrade Chairman, this is your assistant, the directorate is waiting for you.”

“I will be coming there.” said the KGB Chairman, he then hung the phone, got out of his room, went down the hallway by four rooms and entered the fifth one where all the directors of the KGB were seated.

“Comrades!” he said with glee, “Operation Rub-out is a success, the State has the names of the witches since time immemorial, we stole it from the hands of the devil.”

The room exploded into an applause, some were slapping the table while some where simply clapping, the Chairman waved them to silence, “We now have a problem, as you may know, Operation Peaceful Entirety has the goal to eliminate magic once and for all, good or bad…but three of our agents, well two real agents and one paid, double-crossing American, know a thing or two about magic.”

The Director for Internal Intelligence raised a hand, “Comrade Chairman, we can order a hit on them, brand them as traitors to the revolution.”

The Director for External Activities interjected, “We can also launch an invasion of China, strip them of their resources, steal their research on magic, and then invade the United States.”

“I will be suggesting to invade China and the restless Czechs to the Chairman of the Party within the week, as for the United States, we shall handle magic as our main target.” said the Chairman of the KGB.

The Director for the military arm of the KGB raised his hand, “But sir, how about the crew of the Moscow?”

“We sink them when they come through into our waters.” said the Chairman of the KGB, “And we’ll also kill anyone else who knows too much about magic, we too shall be taking the secret to our respective graves.”

“But how about Sabrina Spellman?” asked the Director for Internal Intelligence.

“She is our number one enemy.” said the KGB Chairman.

***

It was a weird arrangement as to who slept where last night, Boris had billeted his house for the marines of the Moscow, while the three of us slept in the house of the Spellmans.

We were awakened sometime after daybreak with the floorboards of the stairs creaking, I opened my eyes and saw Hilda and Zelda walking hurriedly upstairs. I got my glasses on and got up, promptly following the two and apparently waking up Boris and Marko with my footsteps going up the stairs.

I followed Hilda and Zelda into Sabrina’s room, where Sabrina had woken up, “I had this bad dream where Harvey was killed at my dark baptism and-…wait, who are they?”

“That was no dream.” said Zelda, “Harvey is dead.”

I saw the look of disbelief on Sabrina’s face, “W-…what?”

“As for your other question,” I spoke up, “I am Valery Lukov and this here is Boris Scherb, we…are mortals who witnessed your dark baptism.”

Sabrina gasped, “What were mortals doing there…and what, why are they here?”

“It’s quite a long story, but in summary, Harvey ran into the baptism, we tried rescuing him, and he was killed in the end.” said Boris, “As for us, we lost five troops, as for you…well you have a lot to deal with the human authorities, they would be launching a search for him at any moment.”

A radio sat on a table in Sabrina’s room, “If I may?” I asked, gesturing towards it, Sabrina nodded. I switched on the radio and the first thing to come out was the radio bulletin, “This just in, there is a missing young man by the name of Harvey Kinkle who disappeared last night on Halloween in Greendale, the word of the disappearance has been announced on all local radio and television stations within this part of the state. W-…wait, more on that, the authorities of Riverdale and Greendale are currently establishing search parties, in spite of the fact that Riverdale is currently going through some unusual hysteria with zombies, his disappearance is another statistic in a series of disappearances happening within the forest in the outskirts of Greendale.”

“We have to join the search, or risk raising suspicion.” said Zelda.

“Agreed.” said Hilda.

I then said, “Miss Sabrina Spellman, we have another person we wanted to show to you…” I stepped aside to reveal Diana.

Sabrina leaped out of her bed and cautiously approached Diana, “Mother?”

Diana nodded and smiled, mother and daughter embraced, “H-…how?” Sabrina sniffed, it seemed that the young woman was crying both tears of sadness and of joy.

“These gentlemen…found me…cured me.” said Diana.

For once, at least something good happened, even if it were to be insignificant to all the greater equation, it was something on a personal level, most especially for Sabrina, and even for both Boris and I.

“I hate to break it with you Sabrina, but the Dark Lord has set some…punishments for you.” said Zelda, “You are to help these two gentlemen retrieve the book of the beast or else the world will suffer, and you shall be the target of a great hunt by his coven.”

Sabrina allowed what her aunt had just said to sink in, “H-…how was I to blame!?”

“The Dark Lord is just, seek and beg for his mercy, in fact he had given you a chance, that is if you can get the book back.” said Hilda.

“Calm down, Sabrina, we already have a lead.” said Boris, “But for now, we would have to spend a day in town, try to understand what to do, both with Harvey’s death and with the book.”


	8. The Red Guard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Chinese Dragon has joined the scuffle.

It was hardly eight in the morning when we found ourselves to be heading to Baxter High along with Sabrina, while her aunties ‘assisted’ in the search for Harvey Kinkle, we agreed to follow Sabrina under Boris’ guise of Freddie Cue, Greendale Gazette writer who is covering the search for Harvey by interviewing the townspeople and collecting the thoughts of his friends, and just so happened to have a friend from Arkham University tagging along.

Boris’ deep cover identity is pretty much a public figure as the intrepid writer and reporter of the town, and that gave him some respect from the locals and the authorities when it comes to asking them questions.

As we were walking down the hallway, we saw Sabrina stop and stare at a locker, “Are you okay, Sabrina?” asked Boris.

“Harvey’s locker…” said Sabrina, she knew…we knew that he was dead but as far as everyone else was concerned, there was still a glimmer of hope of finding him.

Sabrina began to stammer, “I-…I-…I-…” before bolting off to the girls’ bathroom in tears.

“Damn,” I began, breaking the silence that fell between Boris and I, “poor girl.”

“Those two were meant for one another, I observed that, and…” Boris sighed, “Rumor had it that he was ready to propose to Sabrina once they were done with high school.”

I found myself having to swallow down my own tears, but I failed, I ended up crying, “Oh my God…where the fuck are you, God!?”

Boris patted me on the back, “There, there.”

A door not far from us opened and out came a woman I swore I saw last night in the dark baptism, “Oh, it’s you, Mister Cue…and?”

“My friend, Mister Lukov, though he’s having a bit of a rough time…I’m covering the disappearance of Harvey Kinkle, it’s going to be pretty much the only thing on tomorrow’s issue, that’s for sure.” said Boris.

The woman sighed, “I know how hard it is to cover a sad story like this.” she nodded understandingly at me.

“It’s okay, it’s okay…” I sniffed.

“If you won’t mind, I’ll be going to join the search party, I heard that nearly half of Greendale has joined, not to mention the assistance from Riverdale High.” said the woman before waving goodbye.

We then heard Sabrina exclaim, “I can’t lie to them anymore-…Harvey…” from the bathroom.

I saw the face of Boris toughen up, his eyebrows furrowed and a surge of determination engulfed him, he knocked on the bathroom door and said, “Sabrina, please come out of there, let’s go.”

Sabrina sniffed and she emerged from the bathroom, gloomy and now silent, she did not say a word as Boris led the way, “Change of plans.” he said, “No one is here, I thought we could get any other word on the ground, say a mysterious man they saw or something weird in town, but it seems that the only thing on their lips is the search effort.”

“Where do we even begin?” I asked.

Boris remained silent as we walked out of the school, which immediately after we came across a newspaper stand, “All I know is that we’re fucked.” hissed Boris as he slipped in a quarter and pulled out a newspaper, “We have not a single goddamned clue as to his-…”

I stared at his frozen expression, “Boris?”

“God, no.” said Boris softly.

He silently handed me the paper, now looking puzzled and frustrated, I read the headlines, it was nothing related to our investigation, however there was a story on the corner of the front page that did; ‘Government civil servant murdered in apparent murder-suicide aboard a flight from Manila.’

There was a picture on top of the story of the victim, “Wait a minute, this is the man who spoke to us and stole the book…but…this-…how?” I was stumped.

Boris became pale white in fear before turning red in anger, “Valery…that was not Adam we spoke to…and the CIA is not that interested in stealing the book, as they would have done so years ago when other witches were being baptized.” he stopped. “Valery, we need to contact the Soviet embassy, now.”

I was perplexed by his train of thought, it sounded cryptic, “I’m sorry?”

“Trust me, Valery, it’s a bluff that will catch them off guard.” said Boris, “Trust me, I played poker against some of the big rollers here and won.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

 

Boris spotted a nearby public phone and approached it, “Wait, are you implying that the Soviet Union is behind the theft?”

“GRU or KGB or both.” said Boris as he dialed the number of the Soviet Embassy.

“But-…why would they send us into behind the enemy lines?” I asked.

“Me, the front intelligence man, you, the decoy.” answered Boris, by then someone had answered the phone and Boris would later recount word-for-word as to what was discussed in the short conversation.

“This is Boris Scherb, where is Lilienkov?”

The person on the other side of the phone said, “Lilienkov is not here with us, he has taken leave.”

“Then I want someone from his office to talk to me.” demanded Boris.

It was then the person behind the phone fell silent, not even the sound of a breath could be heard, before being picked up by someone else who sounded different, “Hello, Comrade Scherb, your mission is over…prepare to be picked up from your area by…diplomatic staff.”

“What the hell do you mean my mission is over?” asked Boris.

“Your mission is over.” repeated the man.

Boris then began getting angry with the man at this point, “You do not know who you are fucking with, I know that the KGB and the GRU has vested interest in doing something to magic, either to use it or to get rid of it, either you tell me, Comrade, what’s going on or you’ll be sorry.”

It was a surprise that the man had not decided to hang up the phone, “I cannot tell you, Comrade-”

“The KGB stole the book, they did a specialized trick in the book of dirty tricks, killing a man and replacing him with one of our own who resembled the dead man.”

The man sighed, “Comrade, there is nothing we could do about that, I’m sorry, but our orders are clear…”

Boris at this point had a meltdown, “You’re planning on killing us off-”

“Look, anything you say now will be known by our higher ups.” said the man.

“LET THEM HEAR ME THEN! FUCK YOU FOR BRINGING ABOUT THE APOCALYPSE, I want them to hear it all, the CIA, the KGB, the GRU…tell fucking Brezhnev! Tell that old ballsack for a KGB Chairman! WE ARE ALL FUCKED!” he slammed the phone so hard that the phone unit fell off its screws holding it on the wall.

I was left speechless, “Did you-…”

Boris snapped, “It’s another trick…but this time…I made it and they copied and used it ever since, the dumbasses should never have dared test the man who wrote the script.”

“Script?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I-…” he was more calm this time, “I wrote a part of the manual being taught to agents of the KGB in cases where one would have to terminate one of their own, to answer with ‘I do not know’ and a bunch of apologies, and if the target insists on his authority as KGB, cryptically throw in the higher ups and their orders.”

I smiled, “A hidden Ace in the sleeve.” I remarked.

“I have dozens of them.” replied Boris, “And technically it was a guide rather than an order, and the guy on the other end used it.”

“So, what now then?” asked Sabrina.

Boris and I glanced at her, “We wait for Lilienkov, and also we wait for something bad to happen to this ‘Adam’ person.” said Boris, “If the KGB wanted that book, they would most likely rip it off Adam’s cold dead hands, they’re that ruthless.”

“As for you, I suggest you go back to your aunts.” I said to Sabrina.

“But how about His order?” she asked.

“We’ll need you when we need you.” said Boris.

Sabrina nodded and hesitantly walked away from us, “Now,” said Boris, “we wait for a gunshot in the forest.”

***

As the white haired witch went home with her head slung, she could not help but think of how dead she was to…everyone! Her aunts! Satan! And now these humans are going to get her killed and it was not because of a witch hunt, no, she would be a collateral in the middle of a conflict between superpowers!

She was a witch, she was raised as such, she just wants to be with Harvey AND be a witch at the same time!

“Oh for Heaven’s Damnation!” she stopped along the beaten muddy path in the forest. She wished that these forests, the home of witches such as herself, would provide this sense of being at home, this sense of relief and comfort in the midst of the portentous hour. It did not, for the very master of these forests, the Unholy One who granted her powers, is now against her.

One foot forward, and then the other. She resumed her walking with heavier feet, doubts, and uncertainties dragging her down.

As she slowly trudged through the earth with the somber heart of a retreating army, she heard a voice, “Well, Harvey was not the only boy in your…chaotic baptism.”

She raised her hands, it glowed, “Wh-…who are you? Show yourself!” declared the witch.

In front of her, like a spectre, a young man of her age appeared. He had the looks of Asian descent, was around her height, and had a black combed wavy hair. “You must be the witch of the hour last night.”

Sabrina lowered her hands, “Who are you?”

This young man wore a suit that seemed alien to Sabrina, she only saw it on one guy on the history books, there too was a noticeable red book nestled on the left breast pocket.

“I am Tien Tan.” he spoke with an accent, somewhere from the East, but he was easily understandable and spoke perfect English.

“I am Sabrina Spellman, nice to meet you Tien.” she said.

“Now, don’t worry, I am not a human.” said Tien.

She breathed a sigh of relief, “You’re a witch?”

“Warlock.” said Tien, “But I attended your baptism, out of curiosity, I wanted to know the difference between how they did it before.”

“So…where are you from?” asked Sabrina.

“You must not have seen a foreign witch before! Can’t you see in my clothing? I am from China.” said Tien with a grin, “Forgive me for my mind reading but…your thoughts are as loud as any political rally back home!” he said in jest.

Sabrina managed to crack a smile, there something about Tien that made him amicable and easy to talk to…most especially for a warlock. She began walking and he followed, “It’s about what happened last night.” she began, “They killed my love…” she struggled to hold her tears back.

She felt a pat on her back, “There, there, it’s all understandable.” said Tien.

“It’s not!” Sabrina exclaimed.

“Well, your aunts were heartless.” said Tien admittedly, “When we lose someone…we usually move with the loss rather than moving on from it.”

Sabrina sighed and remained silent until they reached a corner where the road curved, “Wait, what were you doing in my baptism?”

“I was there because I was curious how they would usually do dark baptisms.” said Tien.

“Oh…is it…any different from where you came from?” asked Sabrina.

Tien did not answer the question, “I heard you have a problem with the book of the devil being stolen.”

“Y-yes, of course.” Sabrina rolled her eyes, it was a problem made obvious by the ruckus last night.

Tien remained peaceful, his face showed it, “Indeed, and I offer my help.”

Sabrina stopped in her tracks, “I’m sorry, Tien, how in Hell’s Name can I even trust you if you won’t even answer my questions?”

Tien nodded understandingly, “Oh ye of little faith.” said the young man, “Would you say that the Dark Lord, in His human form would be at your house?”

“Of course, He wants me dead!”

“And your Aunts?”

“They want me dead!”

Tien held up his index finger, “How about the two Russian men?”

“They’ll be dead if we don’t find the book!” exclaimed Sabrina.

“I have the answer.”

“How can I trust you?” Sabrina crossed her arms.

“The Dark Lord can kill me, so as your Aunts, and definitely those two Soviet men.” said Tien.

Their conversation was punctuated by a gunshot ringing in the forest.

“It came from that way!” exclaimed Tien.

***

Just as what Boris had predicted, the gunshot was heard not far from where we were.

Boris and I glanced at each other, “A gunshot, Valery!” he exclaimed as we were trying out the American food called a ‘Cheese steak’ near a roadside diner.

Thank God I was finished with mine, Boris had to chuck a quarter of his Cheese steak into his mouth and down it with a glass of water. “That was a good one, Cleese!” he said to the waitress standing behind the counter as he wiped his mouth.

“Just as how you like it, Mister Cue, and I hope your friend loved it too!”

“I did.”I said.

“We best go now, we have to help with the search for Harvey.” said Boris, standing up.

“Poor kid.” remarked the waitress.

We got into Boris’ car and roared down the road, we knew the gunshot came from somewhere in the forest and we just hoped it was right near the main roads. “Based on where I think I heard the sound come from, we should encounter something odd towards this direction.” declared Boris.

“How could you know that?”

Boris shrugged, “How should I know? Just a gut feeling.”

The same gut Boris used to supposedly beat out high rollers in Las Vegas ended up serving us well, we saw a dead body on the road with two bystanders looking curiously at it. “Sabrina!?” I exclaimed.

Boris stopped the car to the side of the road, I got out and noticed Sabrina with someone else. “Sabrina!”

“Valery, Boris!” said Sabrina, “We heard a gunshot and saw this man dead!” she exclaimed.

Boris bent down and inspected the face where a bullet hole interrupted the smooth forehead, “Clean headshot…and now the trail runs cold.”

“Huh?” said Sabrina, clueless.

“This is the ‘Adam’ impersonator.” I said, it was him, the book was supposed to be with him but he’s now dead. Not to mention, there was no trace of the damned book!

“Where’s the book!?” exclaimed Sabrina, she then searched the pockets of the man’s suit and pants.

“Sabrina, it’s big enough to be seen at first glance, it’s not there.” said the young man beside her.

This young man looked like he came from the East! “What’s your name, young man?”

“Tien Tan, I assume you two to be Boris and Valery.” said the young man, spooking us.

“How did you know?” asked Boris.

“I am a warlock, a male witch basically.” said Tien, “I was there last night in a Dark Baptism only meant for witches, as of course the one being baptized was a witch.”

“Where do you think the book has gone?” Sabrina asked Boris.

Boris’ face became grim, “He was most likely killed by our own, Moscow wants the book, I knew it!”

I had to ask the tough question,“So, what now?”

With a serious look on Boris face, he said straightforwardly, “We go back to the Devil and tell him to pay the KGB headquarters and Brezhnev a visit.”

The young man named Tien reached into the pocket of his pants and took out a green-black officer’s cap that matched his suit, both the hat and the suit were made famous in China during their own Communist revolution.

“Shall we go, comrades?” said Tien.

“We’ll take the car.” said Boris.

There was something unusual about Tien, maybe it’s because of this air of friendliness and confidence, or because he was an unusual witch or warlock. After all, these Satan worshiping bunch are a little apathetic to mortal concerns, but this one seems to be the opposite.

The four of us got into Boris’ car and we made headway to Sabrina’s house. As we got out of the car and into Sabrina’s house, we couldn’t help but notice how confident, bordering even on absolute arrogance, this Tien person was.

“Who the hell is he?” asked Boris.

“He said he knew my situation and had offered to help.” said Sabrina.

As we entered the house with Tien far ahead of us, something struck me like a freight train, “He’s from China, isn’t he?”

“It’s obvious.” said Boris, “Why, what’s wrong?”

“How could witchcraft prosper in a communist society?” I asked. Boris’ mother was killed under Stalin!

“It doesn’t.” said Boris firmly.

We followed Sabrina into the dining room where her two aunts and the devil in human form were staring straight at Tien.

“Aunties, this here is-” Sabrina paused as she saw the tense stares coming from her aunts and the devil.

“How in His name are you here?” said Hilda in shock.

This arrogant Tien reached into his pocket and presented two things that shattered my nerve; The Little Red Book (also known as the Quotations from Chairman Mao) and a badge with the logo of a shield, a sword, the hammer and sickle, and the Great Wall of China; the Ministry of State Security, the KGB’s Chinese counterpart!

“You are an insult to the Dark Lord and to His gifts that he has given us!” exclaimed Zelda.

“I did not insult the gifts given by this man right here, but there are some things which are absolutely incompatible with your old ways, most especially from where I came from.” said Tien.

Boris approached the table and picked up the badge, “You’re working for your government!?” he exclaimed.

“Yes, comrade.” said Tien, he then looked the devil in the eyes and held up the Little Red Book, “Let’s say that this is Satanic witchcraft with Socialist Characteristics under the guiding light of Marx-Lenin-Maoist thought.”

I wanted to laugh, this young man went up to the devil and flashed the book of Mao at the devil! I had a feeling that he was going to quote straight from the-

“Your witches and your covens are imperialist, elitist, and very Bourgeoisie! I am a free warlock under the guiding principles of Chairman Mao! I am a warlock who serves the people!”

I rubbed my forehead, it’s no secret within the KGB that Mao had been doing what the likes of Lenin and Stalin could only imagine; managing to actually use the overly arrogant, strong, and intelligent youth to tear the enemies within the party limb-from-limb, and unleashing these hounds of Mao unto the enemies of the state in the name of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.

The devil stood up, “What did you do to my children!?” he said in all his fury, which had no effect on the young man.

Tien took the badge from Boris’ hand with what appeared to be telekinesis, “Your children or China’s future?” he then leaped, yes leaped, onto the table. “Your magic has degraded into very arcane uses, we did something to it!”

I remembered my visit to Beijing where I saw a handful of Chinese men and women practicing Taichi, a practice where they move their body, mostly their hands and legs, as if they were harnessing the invisible forces of nature.

Tien spun on the table on his feet and extended his hand at the devil, an invisible force shot the devil through the wall behind him like a shell out of a cannon. With a movement of his arms, flicks of his wrists, the wall reassembled itself and the devil was hurled out of the reassembling wall and back into the dining room.

The young man stood triumphant over him, “Are we clear as to who is the master and who is the student?”

The devil got up, “What do you want?” he asked, “Do not tempt me, warlock, I am being very patient with you!”

“Nothing, I just came here to send the regards from the Red East to our very aging founder.” said Tien, who suddenly lost all his smugness and became grim, “I can find your book too.”

“Good.” said the devil.

“On one condition.”

Right there and then it became all too obvious for everyone concerned that Tien had re-written the rules of Satanic magickry, all the rules of witchcraft and such! “No one makes me bargain with someone.” said the devil.

“On the contrary, you did lose your grip on China…” said Tien.

“But how…how did you survive?” asked Zelda, “I’ve had sisters who I have met in the baptisms of other witches that came from China…but that was decades ago, none of them were in Sabrina’s baptism last night.”

“Ah, the Emperor and the Kuomintang did secretly ask for help from witches and warlocks, but as soon as China was liberated….well, we did not kill them, just those that refused to bow down to the will of the people.” said Tien.

“So, everyone?” said Boris, who had a higher anti-propaganda sensing than the witches.

“Yes, all the old crones.” said Tien, “But the young ones, such as I, have sworn our oath to Chairman Mao.”

“You’re from the Ministry of State Security.” said Boris.

“Yes, I work for Chairman Mao…as in I am an Officer of the Party in charge of magic.” said Tien. Now I knew why he was arrogant.

“How many are you left in China?” I asked.

Tien smiled, “The Beijing Twelve, excluding me. All it takes is a single update from me to our Honorable Chairman Mao and he will be sending the Red Guards against them.” he then assumed a sad disposition, “I tried balancing the people with magic, however, I will happily kill the last remaining members of your so-called worldwide coven in Asia!”

The devil was fuming, I never imagined that the devil could actually find himself in a corner! Tien ended up saying what I realized, “You wanted to rebel against God by attempting a People’s War with humans against God, you failed.” said Tien, “Chairman Mao managed to conduct a People’s War to liberate China!”

Out of gutsy spite and maybe a hint of comedy, Boris slowly approached the boiling devil and whispered audibly, “He’s got you there buddy, as to how the Americans say it!”

The devil winced and glanced at him, and then at Tien, “You’re like that troublesome monkey-demon in your fables but made manifest!” said the devil through gritted teeth, “What do you want?” he conceded.

“Nothing. Goodbye.”

***

We walked out of that room as soon as Tien did, we were more interested in this young man than seeing how the devil suffered a nervous breakdown, even Sabrina caught up with us when we were outside.

“Tien!” she called out.

Tien and us two stopped in our tracks and turned around, “H-…just how?” she was gripped by exhilaration, the thrill of seeing someone openly defy and corner the devil!

Tien shrugged nonchalantly, “The world should be thought of as a clock, God is the clockmaker, the devil a mere apprentice who, one day, decided to hand the handbook of secrets and the tools to the clockmaker’s other apprentices.” he then pointed at himself, “I am an apprentice who was given the book and tools, you were merely handed the tools and had to listen to the devil for the knowledge.”

“But were you very serious with the whole Satanic magic with Maoist Thought?” I ended up asking.

“Very!” said Tien cheerily, “After all, the devil was the first to attempt at a Mass Struggle but even that idiot became a counter-revolutionary! Let the humans do all the revolutionary thinking and work, of course I think that God is out of our reach and as such we should rather focus on our existence.”

“You are one weird person.” said Sabrina.

Tien simply nodded with a smile, “I am unique, I must admit.” he then fell backward and disappeared into the ground, as in he was swallowed by what looked like a tear in space-time which quickly healed.

Sabrina jumped, Tien had apparently re-emerged behind her and had given her a spook. “You know how witches tend to think of how one can manipulate the surface world and not the small things beneath the surface?” he laughed, “I’m using the same force of magic allotted by the devil, but I am using it differently!”

The real horrors of magic is not those with horns and sacrifice, it’s the one that places the integrity of the fabric of the universe in peril. “Look, Tien, how can you help us with the book?” asked Boris.

Tien grinned wider than what he would usually do, “By playing the great game, you said that Moscow had an interest in the book?”

“By infiltrating the Americans and using us most likely as a disposable piece of distraction?” said Boris, “Yes, very much.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Tien was wearing the Mao suit and Mao hat, and like any faithful Red Guard Maoist, carried the Little Red Book of Chairman Mao.  
> 2\. It has often crossed my mind in wondering this one single question about witches, most especially in the Western view, they supposedly were evicted from Europe and fled to the New World and promptly prospered there, somehow not being affected much by the history of the United States and managed to survive in secret for centuries. Now, how would those who fled Eastward survive given its relatively chaotic history?  
> 2.1. Let us say that there were covens of witches around the world, much like in the United States, now how would they be hammered by history with the mess of the Cold War? How about China and the fanatical rise of Mao? The chaos in Vietnam?  
> 3\. I'll just shamelessly handwave the existence of the Ministry of State Security, the real MSS (or Chinese KGB) wasn't in existence up until 1983.  
> 4\. 'Satanist witchcraft with Maoist thought' was exactly how the idea for this part of the story came to mind. :P


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